685 5/13/1951 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 4008 Randall Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis 16, Minnesota Sunday, May 13, 1951

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, Eden and Wally and their girls are due over pretty soon as they have been over to Eden’s mother’s house today and are going to be going back to Anoka so will stop here for a few minutes to see Stella and Sandy. I hope you had a happy Mother’s Day, Mother. Stella and I certainly planned to get a gift off to you but we haven’t been getting a thing done around here other than run back and forth to see Davy. I’m sorry we got you out of bed this morning but as soon as we get scared we run for the phone to call you. Elmer and I dashed down to the hospital after they called us to tell us Davy was failing but by the time we arrived there he already was a little better. I feel so helpless and get almost frantic when I think of him full of tubes and I have no way of getting him out of there. They took the tube out of his nose yesterday and the nurse said he was happy and smiled and cooed at her but in a few minutes he filled right up with gas and got sick and uncomfortable so they had to put the tube back again. Poor little thing, he looks so pitiful. He also has a tube on his penis and then the thing sticking in a vein in his leg where he gets his feedings. Today, however, they did start to give him milk and they said he just loved it. He was having pains when we were down there again this afternoon and he looked pretty sick but we discovered that tube down his nose was plugged up so we got the nurse to fix it before we left. This operation was a terrible thing and when I get him home I just have to get him away from this neighborhood. Before he went to the hospital someone reported us to the school for letting our baby die without medical aid and the teachers questioned Mary and Jimmy and when I heard that I was good and mad and called the school up and made a fuss about that and everyone is doing so much talking that I just want to get Davy away from here. I want to come back with Stella but it doesn’t seem fair to you to stay with you for awhile with three kids. Mary and Jimmy wouldn’t cause any trouble and I’m sure they wouldn’t disturb you when you were sleeping but I don’t know about Davy. Elmer said I could have a real estate appraiser out here to see how much we can sell the house for and he said if we did that I could either go out with Stella and check on houses to buy out there or probably it would be better to stay here and wait until the house is sold and be here to help move out. I don’t know yet what we will do. It all depends on when we get Davy home and then we can start thinking of other things. Stella and Sandy and I went to church today and enjoyed it very much. We went down to see Rose in the Sunday school afterwards and then took her up to Lake Street to the Hasty Tasty. She said John has been going to a psychiatrist but isn’t much better. I still don’t know what is wrong with him. We got our first bill from the hospital for the first seven days and it was for almost 250 dollars. 60 dollars alone for blood transfusions and 50 dollars for the use of the operating room. Elmer’s dad paid the bill for us. Morning Haemigs showed up so I had to quit. Elmer will mail this. Thanks very, very much for the check. Your telephone bill worries me so we’ll try to write instead or send a wire. Love, Helen