1948

The Ulcer

The stomach trouble returns with force in May — continuous acid, gnawing pain, vomiting, loss of appetite. JJL spends days in bed through mid-May.

Lucy A. Ledbetter

On June 6, Virginia Davis calls from Blytheville, Arkansas:

Advised that Lucy A. Ledbetter had taken turn for worse, and that Dr. Johnson said she could live only two or three weeks.

JJL and Leonora drive to Blytheville. His mother dies on June 28 at 1:50 p.m. She was born October 15, 1879. JJL calls his brother Alvin by long distance in Butte, Montana, with the news. Lucy is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery, Blytheville. The funeral costs $585.00.

The Rest

On July 21, Leonora turns forty-three. JJL gives her a Sunbeam Mixmaster. Leonora’s stepfather Harrell D. Lackey dies at Aransas Pass on August 7. A GI series confirms the duodenal ulcer has healed — “Everything ok.”

In December, JJL travels to Chicago for the NSPE Annual Meeting. His stomach flares again; he vomits blood and acid on December 14. The year ends miserably: “In bed severe ulcer trouble — bad cold & sinus trouble.”