The Fox Family

The next house on Domino Lane was on the other side and about two hundred yards away. It was on the farm of Matthew A. Fox. Mr. Fox was a real estate operator in South Philadelphia and he had four sons and four daughters. They were Matt Jr., Walt, Leo and Tom. The daughters were Hilda, Margaret, Betty and Augusta. All but (blank) were older than I and I did not know them very well. I often wonder about their house and barn.
The barn was right on the road and I remember one time helping them put in hay. I suppose the horses and other animals were kept in the stable underneath, but the carriage house and wagon sheds were in the other side of the house about a hundred yards away.
Another thing that puzzled me were the elaborate foundations that were on the lower side of the house. They were of poured concrete and it may have been that Mr. Fox had started to build a new house and later abandoned the project. He died while I was still quite young. The family married and moved away one by one and finally, Mrs. Fox moved in about 1923. After that the house was rented to various people and still was when I moved away in 1932.

Brother Tom, Handyman Mike, and the Lamplighter

I saw very little of Tom during my early years because he was so much older. He was working and away from home and later he was in the Navy and away for a long time.
The room on the third floor was Mike's room and I am sure it was just as cold in the winter. Mike seems to have been a very quiet and lonely man. He had no friends that I know of, but he had a good sense of humor and could hold a good conversation. Sometimes he would talk for hours to the lamplighter in the evening. I suppose the lamplighter's wife wondered what was keeping him. That man went around every evening carrying a torch to light the gasoline mantle lamps that were used in those days to light the smaller roads in the area. I don't know how many lamps he had to light or how they got turned off in the morning.

Memories Of The Farmhouse

I often think of the old house on Domino Lane where I was born. It was made of stone, probably fieldstone gathered in the fields nearby. Although it did not seem large, it had three bedrooms on the second floor and one plus a storeroom on the third floor. Of course, there was no bathroom or plumbing of any kind and that probably gave us more room. The kitchen was low-ceilinged and we whitewashed the walls every year. The stairs to the second floor were in one corner with a coat closet underneath.
The boys' bedroom was over the kitchen and was two or three steps lower than the other two bedrooms on the second floor. The main bedroom had a fireplace and two double beds. Ours was a large family and I remember when I was about five years old, I slept at the bottom of my mother's bed while Edmund, three, and Elizabeth, less than a year, slept at the top. Joe, who was about seven or eight, slept in the other bed with my father. Mary and Rose had the girls' room all to themselves while Tom, John, and Jim were in the boys' room. That must have been a very cold and draughty room in the wintertime. I remember at one time seeing a pile of snow on a bed. It had blown in through a crack in the window frame during a stormy night.

More Background

I guess that fall was when I should have quit farming and taken a job elsewhere, but I had no desire to go in the army. So I looked around for some farm that I might be able to afford. Even the smallest and most dilapidated was beyond my means. I finally decided on one near Salfordville. It was rather small for a dairy farm and was badly in need of repair. Claire seemed willing to try our luck there so we moved in on New Year's Day of 1943. That and what happened later, I think I have told before.
I continued selling the milk that was produced to Witchwood Dairies the same as before for the next two years or so, but I found that delivering it took too much of my time, so for a time I sold the milk to Supplee Dairies in Philadelphia. They had a truck that picked up the milk at the different farms. They did not pay as well, but soon after this I decided o leave this farm and take the job at Plymouth Meeting.

More Of 1942

I should have said it was a busy year. A few days later, I was informed by my landlord that the farm was for sale. I was asked if I wanted to buy it but, as I had very little money and knew very little about mortgages or financing such a purchase, I told him that I was not interested. That was another of my mistakes because in a few years that farm was worth several times what I would have paid for it. Now, after forty-eight years, I'm sure it is worth millions.
In that same year (1942) the country was preparing for war, and all men between the ages of eighteen and forty were told to register for the draft. After I had registered, I was informed that I was deferred because, as a dairy farmer, I was necessary to the war efforts. At the same time, the dairy that was buying the milk became so far behind in payment that I had to quit delivering it and I was forced to find a new market for the milk. That old dairy soon went bankrupt owing me quite a large sum. But after only three days I found another place to sell the milk that was nearby and gave me a much better price.

A Proposal

We always had a large picnic in the summer (the last Sunday of June), with all relatives and their family and friends. One year I estimated a hundred and twenty-five people came. Everyone brought their own food and contributed toward a keg of beer.
After the last one of these picnics in 1942, several relatives and friends stayed into the evening while I finished my evening chores in the barn. Later I took Claire home to her home on Sidney Street in Mount Airy. We sat in the car in front of the house for a long time, and it was there that I asked her to marry me. It was late when we went into the house. Dolly and Charley were in the living room and Helen was on the stairs on her way up to bed. When I announced our intention to marry, they brought out a bottle and we celebrated again before I went home. It was a long and busy day.

Fun At The Farm

During the years that I lived on the farm near Lansdale, I usually lived and worked alone, but on Sundays and holidays there was often plenty of company. There always seemed to be some relative or friend visiting, often with their family or friends. I guess we were just the right distance for a pleasant drive.
They often organized a picnic or party and we had many good times. My cousin Fanny and her husband (Charley) often instigated these gatherings and her brothers and sisters were constant visitors. Some of the parties were quite large with many single men and women. I often marvel that there was never any hint of even thought of anything immoral or indecent even though there was much drinking and hilarity.

The Family Farm

The landfill happened long after I had moved away, but the farm was still owned by the family with brother Tom acting as manager. Besides the contract with the city, he rented another place as a rock quarry and some others as landfill sites. Even when divided among all my brothers and sisters it produced a very welcome income during those difficult years.
Later on, the city condemned the land and bought it to build the "Northwest Incincerator." Since then all the roads have been paved and are heavily traveled. Umbria Street is solidly occupied by industrial and business places and I am sure that I would not recognize it if I did not know where I was.

Fill And Fire

The final fill on Umbria Street which closed off Domino Lane from the canal was probably made about 1920 by a small contractor named Davis who lived in Shawmount. He had a contract with some of the mills in Manayunk to remove the cinders that were produced in their boilers. He then hauled them a couple of miles and dumped them at Domino Lane and Umbria to make the fill. It took him several years but after the road was finished, it was not used much because the cinders caught fire and smoldered for a couple of years. The firemen were there almost every day wetting down the fill. When the fire was out more fill had to be added to level off the street.
After that there was not much change until after the depression (probably in the late thirties and the forties) when the city of Philadelphia filled all the surrounding land with ashes and rubbish from a large section of Philadelphia.

Picnic

On the fourth of July, all the churches in Manayunk always held picnics in different parts of the woods around there. They would have a parade in Manayunk and then march out into the woods, each to their own accustomed place with flags waving and bands playing. Our church (Holy Family) always used an open spot between Umbria Street and the railroad on the Manayunk side of the Domino Lane ravine. Joe and I would usually work early at our job of minding the cows so that we would not miss anything. On the next day we always searched the picnic grounds and usually found some coins tat had been lost on the day of the picnic.

Umbria Street

This was all before Umbria Street was built between Manayunk and Shawmount. Domino Lane at that point was in quite a ravine and the project was abandoned before the land could be bridged over or filled in. When that fill was finally made, it cut off the bottom of Domino Lane, making it impossible to reach the canal by that route. The opening of Umbria Street also cut off the lower end of our farm leaving it over six acres smaller. In order for traffic on Domino Lane to reach Umbria Street, they built a small bridge over the creek and cut a road up through the woods on the Manayunk side.
I am probably the only person alive who remembers some of these things.

Down Domino Lane

One of my earliest memories is of going with Joe for a walk down Domino Lane all the way to the canal (I guess it is still called the Manayunk Canal). We then turned right about a hundred yards or so to the locks that had been used to raise and lower the level of water in the canal. Before the railroads were built the canal had been used to bring coal into Philadelphia from upstate, and I suppose many other things, but by that time it was little used. The man in charge of opening and closing the locks was named Giles who lived with his family in a house nearby. I believe that in the days when the canal was busy, Domino Lane was the main thoroughfare between Ridge Pike and canal. In fact, I was told, the teamsters would sometimes play dominos while resting their horses in the shade on that hill below our house, and that was how it was named Domino Lane.

Painting II

We continued these classes for several years and had some success in various shows and exhibits, but mostly we enjoyed it as a pleasant and restful hobby. I gave away most of my paintings, a few I sold, and a few more I framed and still have. One of these is a self portrait that won a "best of show" award.
As my interest in art increased, I tried other mediums, and later found pleasure in water color painting because it was so much faster. After Judy's accident I did not have much time and had to give up painting and soon lost interest in it. Now that I am retired, I am thinking of trying it again, but it may not work because my hands shake so much. However, it is worth a try.

Painting I

Some time after we were married I must have mentioned to Claire that if I ever had the time I would like to try to do some picture painting with oil colors. I think this was after reading that Winston Churchill did picture painting in his spare time. So, Claire reminded me of this after we had moved to the DeMille farm at Plymouth Meeting. She bought me a small set of oil paints and suggested that I try them. The result was very poor, but it did get Dolly Spratt interested and together we decided to attend a series of classes that were sponsored by the Norristown Art League at a small schoolhouse nearby. The instructor was Lois Rapp, a famous local painter, and she let us start with trying to paint a portrait along with other amateurs. The results were laughable but she soon showed us how to make a preliminary sketch and after that first night we were much encouraged.

Melancholy Hen and Remarkable Mice

Another incident that comes to mind happened years before that when Joe and Ed were staying on the farm. Late in the fall, I found a broody hen that had laid a dozen or so eggs under a wagon that was parked out in the open behind the barn. The hen was sitting on them trying to hatch her chicks. This was very unusual as it was very late in the season. However, I decided to give her a chance and I gave her as much protection from the weather as possible but it was not to be. A few days later we had a heavy snow storm of about eight inches. The hen remained on the job covered and surrounded by snow, but after two days she had to leave the nest to get food and water and of course, the snow fell in and covered the nest. I felt sorry for that hen and it reminded me of Bobby Burns' poem, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."
On that same wagon, at one time we discovered a nest of field mice in some discarded burlap--a mother and several young ones. When they were disturbed, the mother ran away with the young ones all hanging on her tail. This seemed so unusual that Ed ran and got his camera and was able to get a good picture of the mouse with the young ones hanging on her tail. I saw that picture years later and it still seems remarkable.

Fire on the Farm

One time when I was living on the North Wales farm and before I was married, the Davis family, with whom I lived at the time, were out for the evening. It was late spring and a cold wet day, so I built a wood fire in the furnace and later went to bed. Hours later, I was awakened by the sirens and lights of a fire engine just below my window and then pounding on the door. (It wasn't locked anyway.) They told me that the chimney was on fire.
It seems that come passing motorist out on the pike had seen the sparks coming from the chimney and called the fire company in Lansdale. They put out the fire by firing a pistol with blank cartridges up the chimney. They explained that the sudden concussion was enough to put out fires.
But then when they started to go home is when the fun began. They had pulled the heavy fire truck off the graveled lane and it became mired down in the mud. After much effort, and fancy blessing on the part of the volunteers, I was able to pull them out with my tractor. It was the John Deere with the steel wheels and cleats and was very good in such terrain. I'm sure those men spent the rest of the night cleaning the mud off that truck.
When it was all over the Davis family returned home and were very sorry to have missed the excitement.

Wrapping Up the Present/Recalling the Past

The owners of this place where we are living now are trying to convert it to a condominium but I don't think they are having much success. They do promise, however, that we will not be asked to move. But, even so, many of the present tenants are moving out or have given notice that they intend to. It will be an interesting winter, and we do not know what to expect. Although the services here are declining, I expect that they will continue to be adequate.
In looking over the preceding pages of this dissertation I find that I have come up to date without having recorded even half of the thoughts and experiences that come to mind. So I think that I shall try to recall a few without date or sequence.

Accommodations

We traveled to and looked at several places but none were suitable until, in the spring of 1988, we heard of this place in Swenksville. We rented two apartments and had them joined together and after several other changes to accommodate Judy, we moved in in late August of 1988.
In most ways, it seems an ideal situation for us. We do have the same problem of Judy's future if Claire or I are not here and I know we will have to do something about that sooner or later.
We have been here a little over two years now and we do have something to look forward to. We are hoping to move in about two more years to a retirement place that is connected with a nursing facility that might take care of Judy when we are gone. It is a slim hope, I know, but it is the best we can hope for at this time even if we can afford it. The place is at Kulpsville at the Dock Woods Community and is the same we were hoping to get into four or five years ago. The apartments we are interested in are not built yet but are planned for about two years. At our age that is a long time to be looking ahead but we must keep hoping (and praying).

Renovations/Moving

In 1972, while Judy was working at the hospital, I became 65 years old and eligible for Social Security, and so in January of 1973, I reduced my working hours for Joan in order to be more help at home. Even so, I was able to continue renovating and building in Joan's house and barn. With the help of others, I renovated much of the big house including the three bathrooms. After that, we built two new apartments in the barn and completely renovated the existing one.
During these years, Claire had been looking by mail and telephone for some place where we might move with Judy. Even since the accident we had been worried about Judy's future when we were no longer able to help her. This went on for several years but all the retirement places seemed to be either too small, too expensive, or too high class for us and usually all three. Also none of them would even consider taking Judy because she was too young and they had rules that everyone had to be able to walk in.

Second Edition

A year or so later, the publisher asked Judy to write a second edition. This was because of the great changes that were taking place in the medical field and some of the information was becoming obsolete.
When Judy undertook this job it was much easier because by that time she had bought a computer and that made the job much quicker and easier, and it relieved Claire of much of her work. It still was a big task as this was a larger and more complete edition. However, when it was in print, sales were disappointing at first as it was not properly advertised and distributed. But since then, it has done better and is still selling.
At the present time, Judy is working for a medical publishing house, doing proofreading on the work of other authors. She finds it very interesting and of course the money is very welcome.

Writing The Textbook

A textbook publisher from the West Coast called and asked if Judy would write a complete book on laboratory testing and its implications for nurses and nursing students. He suggested two experienced writers on nursing to collaborate on the nursing angle of the book. After a contract was signed, Judy quit her job at the hospital and for the next three or four years, spent all her free time on the job of putting together "the book." Of course most of the manual work of typing, sorting out papers and looking up references, etc. had to be done by Claire and they worked together far into the night.
Claire claims that she wore out three typewriters in producing that book and by the time it was finished she was having trouble with her hands. However, the book was successful. It even won an award from the Medical Writers Association as the best of the year. A nursing book club chose it to send to subscribers one month. It was published in paperback and Judy was considered an authority, and was even asked to talk at a seminar someplace in Chicago.

Transition To Writer

During the time Judy was teaching at Sacred Heart, she was asked to give a seminar to a gathering of nursing students from nearby hospitals and colleges. This was to acquaint them with how she was able to cope with the problems of daily living. To help her in this talk, we took pictures and drew diagrams of the changes we made in Judy's living quarters.
This talk was a great success and eventually led to her being asked to write a column in a nursing magazine on the various things that nurses should know about tests that are made in hospital labs. These columns continued for fourteen months and it was through them that she was asked to write a complete textbook on the same subjects.

Judy's Job

After a couple of years, Judy thought that she was strong enough to try working at her old profession as a hospital lab technologist. She took a job in Sacred Heart Hospital in Norristown and for the next six years worked there for just a couple of hours a day and for two days a week. At first she worked at the microscope with special equipment that was made for her and later at teaching the students to work in the lab.
In all this time, both Claire and I had to go with her. I would drive them there and Claire would get her ready for whatever had to be done. Claire and I would then return home and go back again a short time later for the return trip. It was a lot of trouble for all three of us but we believe it was necessary to keep Judy alive in mind and spirit. As it turned out later, this was a good experience for Judy when she was writing her textbook and the second edition. It was also a valuable addition to her resume and helped to get her present job as a medical proofreader for a medical publisher.

The New Life

Judy came home from the hospital in the pouring rain on June the twelfth of nineteen sixty-eight. The first several months at home were very difficult for everyone. Claire had been instructed at the hospital on how to exercise Judy's legs to keep them from atrophying. She also learned how to turn her from side to side and to get her up into the wheelchair and many other things that are needed for her care. At night, Judy had to be turned from side to side every two hours and all this work was too much for Claire and we started looking for some help. I took over the night shift and found it very wearing trying to get up every two hours and trying to get some sleep in between. Several people from our church did volunteer and did try to help, but it just did not seem to work out.
After several days we did get some experienced help from the Montgomery County Homemakers who sent us a trained worker for two or three mornings a week. In time other tasks became easier, too. We found that by using an alternating air mattress and the Stryker pad under her feet plus the close attention that Claire gave to her skin care, we could eliminate much of the nighttime work.
Besides the Homemakers help, we were able to hire other helpers to assist Claire on most days for the worst of the morning care. Over the years, we have had many of these workers but it was always a big worry as many were not reliable or would quit without notice or not show up at all. It seemed that we were always looking for or hiring new nurses' aides, as we called them, or training them as Judy's helpers.

Hard Work

At times, I had some help with this work. Robert (Dr.) Driscoll came when he had time and my brother Joe usually came on Sundays. I broke through a wall to the living room and made an open doorway to the rest of the house. I installed the heating, wiring, and plumbing. I put in a new window, new insulation and linoleum before putting on the ceiling tile. We had some help from some men from the church in painting the whole room on the night before Judy was to come home. But the whole place was finished on time and we were proud of it. I am afraid that I was neglecting my work around Sonya's place but she was very understanding and helpful for which we were and still are grateful.

House Modifications

Judy would not be able to get upstairs and there was no bathroom on the ground floor. There was no possibility of putting in an elevator and of course it was not my house. But Joan was very helpful and agreed to any changes that I wanted to make. I was sixty years old at the time and Claire was fifty-seven and the rehab people at the hospital told us that we were too old to take on this job. They recommended that we put Judy in an institution but we would not consider it. We decided to change the old dining room and kitchen into a bedroom and laundry for Judy so that she could stay on the first floor. We then built a new kitchen and dining room combined in the old stone annex that we had been using for storage and burning trash in the ancient fireplace. There was no cellar in the proposed new kitchen and the old rough wooden floor was a step higher than the rest of the house.
However, we went ahead with the job. I excavated about two feet of earth to make room for the new floor and heating ducts. This was a very hard and tiring job that I did mostly in the evening, but when it was finished, I was able to put in a new floor over and above the heating ducts, electric wiring and plumbing pipes that were needed for the new kitchen.

Rehabilitation

Judy was moved to Jefferson on December 7, 1967, and was put in a section with several other patients with spinal injuries. She was put in a water bed which, I am told, takes a while to get used to because any motion causes the whole bed to move like waves in a pond. The man in charge was Doctor Kelly who had a spinal injury himself and was well liked. Claire continued to visit every day, going into town by train and I would follow in the evening after work either by car or by train. This schedule continued for another seven months before it was considered safe for Judy to come home. Before that time, we had to make many changes in the house to accommodate Judy's needs.

In The Hospital

After a few days Judy complained that there was no place to rest her arms because the frame was too narrow. At work I devised and made two arm rests to fit on the frame and Judy said that they helped a great deal. I have heard years later that they are still being used in both Sacred Heart and Montgomery Hospitals.
We hired private nurses around the clock and for a while Claire and I were allowed to see Judy for only a few minutes at a time. After a few days these restrictions were gradually removed and other friends and relatives were allowed to see her. Of course Judy was face down for half the time and facing the floor. This made it necessary for visitors to kneel or sit on the floor and many did just that.
After a few days, we began to be more hopeful when some motion or feeling returned to her shoulders or upper arms. But that was all. The rest of her body had no feeling or control. And so, after nine weeks in Sacred Heart Hospital, we were told that she should have rehabilitation in either the University of Pennsylvania or at Jefferson Hospital. We chose Jefferson because we thought it would be easier for us to visit there.

The Injury

The accident happened on Ridge Pike near Spring Mill Road at about eight fifteen in the morning. They were taken by emergency ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital. When Claire and I arrived, we were told that Judy would probably be paralyzed if she recovered.
Around noon I went home while Claire stayed. I took with me Judy's bloody clothing but I didn't know what to do with it and finally I took it to Weber's and asked Marcelene, our neighbor, to hold it for us. I returned to work in the afternoon but could not concentrate on anything so I went back to the hospital and found that Judy was in a private room on the second floor and she was in traction for a broken back. This was a device called a Stryker frame. Small holes were drilled in her head to accommodate thongs at the end of a nylon cord. This in turn passed through a pulley and a weight kept a constant pull on her spine for the next eight weeks while the broken bone mended.
The litter on which she lay was narrow and made so that another litter was fastened over her and she could be turned every two hours. In that way, she lay face down half the time for the next eight weeks while the bone mended.

The Accident

Judy had graduated from college in 1966, and was working in the laboratory of Hahnaman Hospital in Philadelphia. A neighbor and his daughter, Arnold and Barbara Bowman, worked there also and they had arranged to drive to work together taking turns. On this day Judy was in the back seat of their Volkswagen Beetle with Barbara at the wheel. They were hit from behind by another Volkswagen driven by a man going home from work. Barbara received a head wound and lost control of the car which left the road and hit a tree.
Judy's injury was the only serious one but she had a severed or crushed spinal cord at the fifth vertebra. This left her completely paralyzed from the shoulders down with some slight arm motion but no hand feeling or control.