PERSONAL VISIT AND LAUGHTER — THE BEST MEDICINE

"It's a Girl" with Kathy and Kathryn

The best medicine when in the hospital, rehabilitation center, or at home after a surgery or illness is a personal visit and laughter

 

In our family, crazy relatives supplied the medicine.  Everyone needs crazy relatives to bring laughter to our lives.  Nephew Bruce, my eldest sister Pat’s son, and his daughter, Kathryn, embody the laughter spirit. 

Bruce sent “It’s a Girl” flower bouquet with a stuffed animal to my other sister, Kathy, after she broke her hip while trying to sit on an office chair on wheels that rolled away, without her consent.  Bam!  On the hard basement floor she fell, breaking her hip bone.  A year ago Kathy broke her right shinbone!  Is this a yearly happening?    Back to Muskegon Mercy Hospital for another pin surgery by the same doctor!  

Nephew Bruce won the North Carolina “Groan Joke Award” and a carefully chosen gift must commerate Kathy’s second break!  GROAN!  So of course his daughter, Kathryn—who now works in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area—proudly showcased the gift and declared it most appropriate when she personally visited.  GROAN!  

We all laughed!

And that is the second best gift you can give someone experiencing a challenge — Laughter.  

The first gift is to visit the person.  Not a text, tweet, Facebook, or even a phone call.  Go see the person in person and make them laugh.  Personal visit and laughter — the best medicines!  

So when the younger generation brags about posting something on social media, we should ask the person, “Have you recently visited someone who experiences an illness or injury?”   

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FINDING GLADYS – Chapter 8 – House of All Nations

RECAP:  Gladys Lacey appeared in a 1918 Wood family wedding portrait sitting in front of my great-grandmother.  For the last five years, I researched how she came to live in an all-white village in eastern Ionia County.  Please read earlier chapters if needed.

On August 27, 1910, Gus and Viola Lacey lived in a boarding house at 65 Ellsworth Ave., just west of Union Station. Gus worked as a laborer in a shop, according to the 1910 Grand Rapids Federal Census.  Gus stated he was a “Tailor” and self-employed.  The couple had three children living with them—Gladys, aged 7; Morris, aged 4; and Arabella, aged 2. 

The 1910 Grand Rapids City Directory, listed an “Augustus Lacey” living at 196 Market Ave. and he worked as a “laborer”.  Probably,  Gus exaggerated his occupation as tailor.  About 1,362 people worked in the Grand Rapids clothing industry that year, representing 8% of the city’s 17,590 workers.  Tailors and dressmakers were at the top of the pay scale, but these jobs were for whites only, while blacks worked in the lowest paying jobs, such as stock delivery or warehouse laborer.   These low wages would support a family of five. (more…)Facebooktwitterlinkedinby feather

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FINDING GLADYS – Chapter 7: ALL THAT GLITTERS

ALL THAT GLITTERS . . .

Why didn’t Gus Lacey, pay off the $10 ring—worth $250 in current dollars?  The Grand Rapids Press article dated December 9, 1910 began:

“Gus Lacey, a colored citizen, couldn’t resist the glitter of gold for the flash of precious stones, no matter whether his purse will stand for it or not, according to the story told by Stone, Burgess & Co., local dealers in jewelry who claim that they sold a ring to Lacey on a contract and that after making a few payments on the circlet he grew tired of the formality and has ceased forking up the balance due them.”

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FINDING GLADYS – Chapter 6: Where Did They Go?

Where Did They Go?

Gladys
Gladys

As a toddler, my now 40ish son often replied when asked about a lost item, “But I searched EVERYWHERE!”  Literally, I searched everywhere for more information about Gladys Lacey and her family members, but the trail came to an abrupt wide dead end until one clue lead me to a surprising and very twisted path.

According to the 1910 U.S. Census, Gladys Lacey and her family resided at 65 Ellsworth Avenue in Grand Rapids.  But the 1920 Census recorded her as living in Lyons, Michigan with my Great Grandparents, Darwin and Hope Wood. (more…)Facebooktwitterlinkedinby feather

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FINDING GLADYS – CHAPTER 5

Making a Living?

The 1910 Federal Census for Grand Rapids listed ‘Gladys Lacey’ and revealed ‘Gus Lacey’ as head of the household of wife Violet, daughters Gladys and Arrabella, and son Morris.  Grand Rapids city proper numbered about 133,000 residents, according to R. L. Polk & Co.’s 1910 Grand Rapids City Directory.  The 1910 Federal Census recorded 70,000 residents were born in Michigan, while 63,000, or 47% of the population, were migrants from other states or immigrants from other countries.  They sought a better life for themselves and their family.  Many escaped poverty and starvation, political unrest, or religious persecutions.  Others fled more perilous inhuman conditions that threatened their very lives.  Only about 529 residents were black or mulatto, a miniscule .04% of the total population. (more…)Facebooktwitterlinkedinby feather

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FINDING GLADYS — Chapter 4

Grand Rapids – Now and Then

Walk the streets of present day downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan and stop for a moment, close your eyes, and listen.  The constant, yet quiet, rumbling hum of car engines surround you.  Here and there, a ‘vroom’ greets your ears as cars accelerate when red stop lights turn green.

Open your eyes and look around slowly.  Parked cars line streets and parking lots.  Barely visible cocooned passengers pass by in almost hermetically enclosed cars that create sound barriers from most outside noises. while also containing any loud music blasting from media devices or screaming children.

Amazingly, the paved streets and sidewalks are free of any trash or foul garbage. (more…)Facebooktwitterlinkedinby feather

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