I was 12 years old and recovering from an emergency
surgery after my appendix ruptured.
I had spent a week in the hospital (things were done differently in those days) and was now at home but still an invalid.
My bedroom was upstairs in our house and I had to be carried downstairs and settled in on the couch for Christmas morning.
Surrounding me in this picture were my uncle Zenas from San Francisco, my mother, my grandfather and my dad.
Mom wrote on the back of the picture "Doesn't Bruce look pale?"
As you can see the house had been gaily decorated to cheer me up.
I don't look very cheerful though, do I?
Interesting. I was born in '52 and my appendix burst twelve years later. You don't look all that happy but I imagine if you laughed or moved about too much it caused pain.
ReplyDeleteGiven the time, you're lucky you didn't develop peritonitis and severe systemic issues. Penicillin was about it back then, I think Erythromycin was in testing.
ReplyDelete|You survived, that is what counts.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds crazy. Glad to see you are still posting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Fijufic. Always good to make a new friend.
DeleteYou were frail, pale and probably sad to see Harry Truman preparing to leave the White House. Did you like Ike?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't developed an interest in politics at that point. My dad was for Taft. Mom hated Truman for "getting us into another war, in Korea." Actually the whole family was GOP and had no use for any Democrat.
DeleteThink of the Pity Presents you must have got boosted with!
ReplyDeleteYou look a little happier than grandpa.
ReplyDeleteGramp never smiled for a camera, at least as far as I can remember.
DeleteI've never been sick at Christmas but when I was 6 I was really sick at Halloween and I always remember that I couldn't go out trick & treating but the corner store sent a whole box of Kit hat chocolate bars for me! They are still one of my favorite candies!
ReplyDeleteThis is eerie! I had almost the same experience with appendicitis back in the early 40s in Willmar, Minnesota. I remember laying on the couch, parents and relatives hovering about. Sheesh! Maybe we're related?
ReplyDeleteI was living in Stanley, North Dakota back then so probably not. But maybe. No. Yes. Shall we compare DNA?
DeleteI had to spend the night before in hospital when I had my tonsils out. Cold and lonely and miserable. Today, parents bring kid in, and they are on their way home in a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteYou DO look pale.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to be cheerful when you're under the weather.
ReplyDelete