Book Entry 103: 1972 Moving to Harding Road

Our First Little Home Before the Lawn Was Planted

Our Home On Harding Road

Heidi was just two years old.  Del and Alpha decided to put a modular home up on the Linwood ranch.  They offered us their home.  It was the smart thing to move to their house.  It was by the sheds of machinery, the gas tanks, and the almond huller.  It was a bigger house than ours with about 1200 square feet.  We were all excited about the move although when we left I left a piece of my heart and my new bride memories on Lombardy Rd.

We had taken a camping trip to Santa Cruz. As the moving day approached I began feeling ill.  Everyday I felt worse.  Everyone was saying I was sick because I was scared to move.  Each time I heard that I packed faster and worked harder to be sure our things were ready to move on schedule. 

As it happened John Hoino and his wife, friends of ours, moved into our house the day we moved into the home place.  Del and Alpha moved out of the home place and into their new home the same day.  People were going in and out of both of my houses!

I remember putting Heidi’s playpen outside the front door and emptying all our dresser drawers, kitchen drawers, blankets, pillows, and bedding into it and Larry and John carrying it to the pickup.  John showed up with a load of boxed things.  He emptied the boxes into one of our bedrooms and we loaded the same boxes up in the other bedroom and took them to our new place.  When we got there we unloaded them in the living room and Alpha loaded them again in the bedroom with her stuff.  We all helped one another when we could and we all completed the move and slept in our new homes that same night.

About three days later I finally gave in and went to the doctor.  When I had gotten up my eyeballs were yellow, my skin was clammy and itchy, I couldn’t keep anything in my tummy and I was peeing the color of an orange color crayon.  

I had Hepatitis A!  Dr. Bigelow said I had gotten it in Santa Cruz eating in a restaurant that was not clean.  We took note of where we had eaten and didn’t ever eat in any of those places again.  There is no treatment for Hepatitis but rest.  Working as I had with all the packing and moving and taking care of Heidi was absolutely the worst thing I could have been doing.

Alpha had taken me to the doctor's office.  Our orders were to move Heidi from our house to Alphas for at least a week and to buy some hard candy on our way home.  I was to stay in bed and suck on candy until I could keep some food down. 

I’d never been separated from Heidi before. Alpha brought her two or three times a day to visit.  Each visit started with her crying when she’d see me.  She’d get on the bed with me and we’d play and hug.  Each visit would end with Heidi, Me, and Alpha all crying.  I really don’t know which of the three of us had a harder time.  We were quite a sight!

When Heidi did get to come home my grandma Stevens came a few times in the daytime to help.  Larry pitched in all he could too but he was working so many hours a lot of his watching Heidi was done from the couch with his eyes closed.