It’s been a very long time since I’ve done any blogging, but I have excellent excuses. Torn between teaching and studying, I haven’t had any extra time to devote to a blog. It just so happens, that one of my English classes required me to write a ‘creative nonfiction’ piece. I interviewed Grandma for one of her stories. As many know, Grandpa and Grandma have lived an adventurous life. On the skirts of civilization, they braved northern B.C. at its fiercest. Only 21 years old, Grandma, big and pregnant, lived 40 miles away from the nearest doctor. Plus the doctor was only accessible by train, which had to be flagged down. I thought more than just my professor would enjoy the story. So, here it is.
Home Through the Blizzard
Clickity-clack. Clickity-clack. I rocked with the train as it slowly chugged its way through the screeching blizzard. Snow flurried by the windows, turning the landscape into a swirling white sheet. Had we passed our house? I couldn’t see or recognize any of the landmarks. “Oh God,” I prayed, resting my head against the train window, “Please let Rudy be there waiting.”
David stirred in my arms, grunting slightly and then he snuggled close and fell back asleep. The doctor’s wife smiled at me, her bright eyes kind. “Let me hold him for a bit,” she offered. “You look so tired.” I smiled as I gently handed my sleeping boy into her arms.
I was tired, but I couldn’t sleep. “Let Rudy be at the railroad tracks waiting for me,” was my heart’s cry.
The doctor sat beside his wife, his head rested against the back of his seat and his eyes closed. Before we’d left tonight, he’d told me, “You can go home early, but if no one is there to pick you up, you cannot get off the train.”
I prayed again, “Oh, if only Rudy got my message. Let him have gotten it, oh please dear God, let Rudy have gotten my message.” If he had gotten my message, I knew he’d be there despite the slicing winds and whistling snow.
Crescent Spur, the place I called home on that snowy 19th of December, 1964, was a tiny settlement in British Columbia. Surrounded by forests and mountains, the most reliable source of transportation was train, although there wasn’t a station in Crescent Spur. If we needed a doctor or anything more than the basic necessities stocked by the tiny sawmill store, we’d stand by the railroad tracks to flag a train down to ride the 40 miles to McBride.
In the last stages of their pregnancies, most of the women from Crescent Spur went to live with friends in McBride, so they would be close to the hospital when they went into labor. I couldn’t stand the thought of being away from Rudy for so long, so I stayed home. But I knew I should be prepared, just in case, so I bought a medical book, explaining how to deliver a baby if there was no doctor, and some sterilized string and scissors. Rudy was not ok with that.
Eight days ago, I’d sent Barbara, my sister-in-law, running the two miles to the saw mill to fetch Rudy. I was going into labor, and we needed to catch the way freight into McBride. Rudy had dropped everything and arrived home panting and wild-eyed. Thankfully, we caught the train, although we wouldn’t have had to worry, since David took his own sweet time. We spent four long, uncomfortable days in the tiny McBride hospital waiting for David to arrive.
Once David was born, a ridiculously proud Rudy caught a ride home to work. “I’ll be back in a week, Esther,” he said kissing me as he left.
“Don’t forget the suitcase with the baby clothes,” I said, smiling up at him. “And give Jonathan a hug from me. Do you think him and Barbara have been all right? Four days is a long time for them to stay there by themselves.”
“Don’t worry, they’re fine. I’ll be with them soon.” With that, he left.
Minutes soon began to drag like days. I tried to sleep and rest, but I missed Jonathan. He was just a toddler, an adorable little boy with dark kinky hair, curled tightly. Barbara was a good girl, and I knew she’d take care of my boy, but I missed him so much. I longed to hold him in my lap and listen to his childish prattle. I knew he’d be so proud of David.
Homesickness swallowed my contentment. An observant and kind nurse noticed my restless pining. She asked me about home and I eagerly told her about Jonathan. “He’s such a smart boy,” I bragged.
She must’ve read my homesick eyes, because I overheard her talking to the doctor. “She’s homesick. You should send her home.”
The doctor came to see me. Now, this wasn’t the same doctor I had in the beginning. McBride was a very tiny town, and there weren’t any doctors in residence. The doctors came from a larger town 100 miles away called Prince George. They would come in shifts, work for two weeks, and then take the train back.
“Would you like to go home early?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, doctor!” I cried.
“Would someone be able to pick you up?” he asked.
“If I could make a phone call,” I said eagerly. “I know my husband would be there waiting for me.”
“Ok,” the doctor said. “I’m going back to Prince George tonight. You can come on the midnight train with me. But,” he warned, “If there is no one waiting for you, then you’ll have to stay on the train.”
I nodded and he left. “Can I have a phone?” I asked turning to the kind nurse. She pushed the hospital phone on a cart into my room and plugged it in. I called the only phone in Crescent Spur, the phone at the saw mill where Rudy worked. The secretary answered. “Can you take a message for Rudy?” I asked. “This is Esther.”
“Of course, Esther,” she answered brightly.
“Please tell him that I’m coming home tonight. Tell him to be at the railroad tracks to pick me up. It’ll be after midnight. Please tell him to be waiting for me tonight.” I repeated. She promised and we hung up.
The nurse brought a prescription. “You’ll need this medicine and formula,” she said.
“There isn’t a drugstore in Crescent Spur,” I said, wondering if I would have to stay in McBride if I couldn’t get the necessary drugs.
“Don’t worry,” the nurse soothed. “Call this drugstore here in McBride and tell them what you need. They’ll bring it to you in the hospital.”
When I called the drug store, I told them “I don’t have money. I can’t pay.”
“Don’t worry,” the pharmacist said. “Just send a check. I’ll put the bill in the bag.” He brought a bag with the medicine, formula, and bill to the hospital.
I needed baby clothes and money for a ticket yet. I had a friend in McBride, Rachel Carpenter, and I called her. “Rachel,” I said. “I need baby clothes and money for the train. I’m going home tonight. Could I borrow some from you?” Rachel had recently had a baby herself, so she had lots of baby clothes. She was eager to help me out.
I felt like everything was falling in place. Rachel had lent me clothes for David and $1.60 for the ticket, the pharmacist had brought me a bill for my medicine, and the secretary had promised she’d give Rudy the message. That’s when it began to storm. Already, there were mounds of snow heaped along the railroad tracks, and the wind promised more. The train would be crawling through drifts and between six-foot berms of snow. “Maybe she shouldn’t go,” a nurse said. “The train could get delayed. Something could happen to the tracks. It’s not safe.”
However, 1 am found me sitting on the train, praying desperately that Rudy had gotten my message. The train’s brakes began to squeal, and it came to a sluggish halt. The doctor, after going forward and talking to the conductor, came to me. I’d already risen and gathered little David into my arms. “He’s there,” the doctor said.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much,” I cried. Relief and joy flooded my heart, and I could’ve kissed each of the passengers on the train. Gently and securely wrapping David against the biting wind, I stepped out of the train. With either skill or luck, the conductor had stopped the train directly beside the well-shoveled path way to the tracks. Rudy, more snowman than anything else, waited with a gas lantern in his hand.
Rudy had driven the van onto the shoveled path, so I wouldn’t have to walk so far in the shrieking snow. Once David and I were seated and he was in the driver’s seat, Rudy grinned at me. “It’s good to have you back,” he said, starting the van. “I didn’t want that train to miss seeing me, so I stood on the tracks and waved my lantern.”
“I was worried you hadn’t gotten my message,” I said, returning his grin. “The doctor said I’d have to go all the way to Prince George if you weren’t waiting.”
Rudy scoffed, “Of course I’d be here waiting.”
“I knew you would if you’d gotten the message. But I was worried you hadn’t,” I said.
“Well, the wind would’ve told me then,” Rudy said parking as close to the door as he could. “You shouldn’t have worried, Esther.” There’s no arguing with Rudy; he always thinks he’s right.
I walked through the door. Barbara was up, and she took my coat. The house felt cozy warm despite the howling storm. Before going to bed, I went and looked down at sleeping Jonathan. I gently touched his dark hair and sighed; my heart full to the brim. “It’s good to be home,” I said softly.
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