As life goes on, so does my memory, which is actually a good thing until it wakes me up in the middle of the night. Last night I woke up remembering my oldest sister and, of course, Nickerson, Kansas. I was 15 years old and my sister, Josephine was pregnant. She had a little girl who was 3 or 4 as I recall. Her husband was at work in the oil field. As I recall his shifts were 24 on and 24 off, but that could be just something that came into my head, because I never really paid much attention.
On this particular day I had been sent to stay with her to keep an eye on her daughter, who shall remain nameless for this story. I liked the little girl so it was no problem to entertain her. Josephine was another matter. She stayed in bed and appeared to be in some sort of distress, but how was I to know what was actually happening? I had no idea where babies came from and was not interested in learning about the birds and the bees at this point in my life. I was there to entertain my niece, and that was what I was doing. But Josephine had other ideas.
She called me into the bedroom and told me to take her daughter, my niece, and go get help because the baby was coming. I grabbed my niece and ran next door to the preachers house. He called the grocery store and told his wife, who was a nurse, to come home right now. He assured me it was all under control and that I should take my niece and go to my house where mother was and send her to Josephine.
It was only 3 blocks, but it seemed like it was miles. I carried my niece most of the way which was not easy as she was heavy for me. But we made it. Mom left on foot because we had no car. To make a long story short, the baby was stillborn. It was a little boy.
The next day, Jack Lamb, the mortician, brought a tiny coffin to the house. He brought it in and set it on the coffee table. He opened the lid to show us a very tiny little boy wrapped in a soft blue blanket. His little hand was positioned to hold the blanket closed and I would have thought he was only sleeping had I not known. That was so sad and a picture in my mind that will never fade.
Since that time, I have attended many funerals, but I always see that tiny baby in my mind. I went to visit the Nickerson cemetery several years back and visited the tiny grave of Baby Boy. He did not have a name, but he will never be forgotten. Although he never breathed a breath on this side of the veil, he still lives in my mind and my heart. 65 years later he is still in my mind holding his blanket together under his tiny chin.
Some memories never die.
