Leonard and I
As told by Virginia Vauthier June, 2009
Loyd Michael and Lynn Monroe Vauthier were born early on the morning of Sunday, April 24, 1949 at Dublin Hospital in Dublin, TX Â The twins were born six weeks early. Dr. Jordon, who was my doctor, had gone fishing so Dr. Bryan delivered the babies. Â I had been scheduled for an x-ray on Wednesday, April 27 to see if I was carrying more than one baby. Loyd Michael Vauthier was born head first and weighed 3 pounds, 1 ounce. Seven minutes later his twin Lynn was a breach birth. Lynn weighed 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The boys were watched over day and night by family and friends, who took two-hour shifts.
Lynn died on April 25 and was buried at Cottonwood Cemetery on April 26. On the evening of April 26 Mike was placed in the nursery in an incubator with oxygen that was delivered through a tube with a funnel on the end of it. The funnel was placed near Mike’s face and he kept knocking it away. I later learned that oxygen on the eyes could have caused him to be blind so it was a good thing he knocked that funnel away. He was given extra fluid with long needles under the skin of his legs, chest and back. He developed a sore on his back and another on his left chest. The sore on his back was as big as a silver dollar and was draining and infected by May 21. Mike was sent to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth and was to arrive there in the morning. Charlie and I placed him in a child’s doll buggy with a hot water bottle under him and another at his feet. All of the windows of the car were kept rolled up. Herman and Frances Mackey went with us to donate blood. Unfortunately the hospital was not taking blood that day. Â I was glad they were with us anyway.
Mid-week Charlie’s boss Loyd Hines called Charlie to his office. He wanted him to go to tractor school in Paris, TX. Charlie said he couldn’t, that the Hospital might call him to come and get Mike. Loyd replied, “Doggone, Charlie boy, if they call, I’ll go get him.” So Charlie left on Thursday to be home the following Sunday. The hospital called on Friday and told me to be there the next morning to pick Mike up. It had been raining nearly all week and some of the streets in Fort Worth were flooding.
When we got to the hospital, Loyd went right into the preemie nursery, in his big hat and boots with one britches leg tucked in. He said his name was Loyd and that he had come to get baby Loyd Michael. The nurses thought he was Mike’s dad. He did not correct them. He took Mike up in his big hands and put him in the blanket, asking questions about what they had done for the baby. They said he had had a blood transfusion straight from the donor to the baby but they would not say who the donor was. They gave written instructions regarding feeding, care and warmth. Herman and Frances had come with Loyd and me and once again tried to give blood. For the second time there was no one at the hospital to draw blood.
Loyd paid the $92.25 bill and put Mike back in the doll buggy. We got to the street to find a cop there closing that street because of the high water. Frances spoke up, “We have to get this tiny baby through to our home hospital.” The cop looked at Mike and said, “Go with God’s speed.” and we did.
Back in the nursery at Dublin Hospital Mike was in a crib with no oxygen. I wanted him home. Agatha Prator was the nursery aid. She had been our neighbor in Carlton when I was still in school. She knew I had taken care of my sisters and brother. She told the doctor that I would take good care of him, that she knew my family. So on May 30, 1949 we brought Mike home. He was bottle fed Similac powder and water every two hours. He did well on it and gained a half pound in two weeks. I weaned him when at nine months, he threw his last bottle and broke it.
No one ever explained the sores on Mike’s back and left front side. The sores healed. The one on his back was right on his back bone. Some years later when Dr. Wyatt, a chiropractor, was treating Mike’s older brother Ralph, he saw the scar on Mike’s back and treated Mike too. He got the scar loose from the bone and showed me how to rub it with oil.
When Mike was twenty years old, another of his nursery nurses saw me while I was visiting in Dublin. She asked me to have coffee with her at Sunset Cafe and I did. Bobby Weems had been carrying a burden for twenty years. She begged me to forgive her for giving Mike the wrong medicine in the long needles just under the skin. That was what had made the sores.
I saw in the Dublin paper last year (2008) where Bobby Weems had died.
As told by Virginia Vauthier June, 2009
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Note from Ken and Melissa’s Email to me :
Mom uses Leonard throughout the story she wrote. Ken asked her if that was the correct name since he thought it was Lynn. She replied, “Lynn was his nickname!” However, we went to the cemetery and checked his headstone and changed “Leonard” to “Lynn” since that is what is on the stone.
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The Poppadillo Blog, is the blog page for the Texas Tortilla Factory website, and its stories have been written by Mike Vauthier, and Administratively Approved Authors.
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