June 2001                                                              The Megaphone                                                               Page 2

Father's Day

 by Dewey W. Smith

   As Father's Day is coming up I would like to wish a VERY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all fathers. Two or three years before my wife passed away, she included this poem that she had written in my Father's Day Card.

To My Husband On Father's Day

You're my husband, my lover and also my friend.
We've been together through thick and thin
You tease me 'bout my stubborn streak
But there's love in your voice, the way you speak
A gentle caress, a loving touch
When you've been hurt, can mean so much
And your actions speak louder than words
Our kids spoke their thoughts, you let them be heard
You helped them through life with guiding care
A quality that, I know, is very rare
They climbed on your knee as you sat in your chair
You changed their diapers and combed their hair
You took them camping and fishing an all the fun things
You set a good example, to them you are a king
A loving father day after day
A beautiful life in so many ways
And this man that I married, our kids call you "DAD"
You're my Knight in shining armor
My "SIR GALA HAD"
and I still love you - more than yesterday, less than tomorrow.

by Evelyn (Barmes) Smith

Dewey W. Smith
The Old Dewey, Monon '39

Stroke of Luck?

    

Perspective is a vital part of surviving in the twenty-first century.

   

My doctor frowned at me when I referred to my stroke as a "Stroke of Luck." I felt then that it was. I still do! May 1984 began with constant horrible headaches. Around the plans for my first born's H.S. graduation, I went to the doctor a dozen times. Never had my head hurt so bad! Migraines all my life were nothing compared to this pain! None of the Rx medications helped either. All the graduation, parties etc. went as planned. The night after the festivities concluded I could not sleep for the pain in my head, arm and shoulder.

   

Early morning on May 20, 1984 I called my doctor. He said, "Go to the E.R." So I took a shower and I believe the last thing that I did with my left arm was get dressed. I grabbed my purse and headed out the back door to the car. Just as my right foot  hit the porch, "it" happened. My left leg would not hold me. I stood there holding the door as I balanced on my right foot. Trembling like crazy. Body quake! I called out to my youngest son Jeff who was stilling sleeping. [After all it was his 17th birthday!] He got to me in his undies just as I fell. Catching me he said, "What happened?" I said, "Call 9-1-1 NOW and then call Bob!" 

   

We lived less than a mile from the fire station but Bob got home from C.C.C. in Elwood first. I heard the EMT say, "She could be having a stroke!" They loaded me into the ambulance and away we went! I laid in the back trying to remember everything I had ever read about stroke. #1. Use it or lose it! So, I began singing my favorite hymn, "How Great Thou Art" followed by "Country Roads." All the words escaped me but I kept on singing occasionally getting a word or two! I used my right leg to lift my left leg and my right hand to lift my left arm. What a sight I must have been for that EMT! 

    

"A Stroke of Luck" indeed! Another minute and I would have been driving "hell bent for leather" to the hospital! Had it occurred in the other side of my brain, I would not have been thinking or remembering! There are so many kind of strokes and it all depends on the area of the brain where the CVA [Cerebral Vascular Accident] happens. Could have been a cussing stroke! I would have hated that! I worked so hard for so many years to get out of the cussing mode. I have always said "I am no angel!" I am a very lucky lady! The stroke could have been so much worse. 

    

In the next three years I had at least six more strokes. FYI ... I was 37 and no cause has been linked to my strokes!

        [Next issue the reality sets in]

 

Agape,
"Mama Duck" -- Class of '65
Alexandria, IN
Vicki (Hull) Wardwell

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