It is at times like these that we truly appreciate our friends and loved ones. The comfort they can give to us is good for the soul. We usually take these loved ones and friends for granted and sort of expect them to do certain things, but when we have tragedy come to us they seem to go the extra mile to help us adjust to the problems, and they don’t seem quite as bad as they might otherwise.
It was surely lonely after Sharon was taken away. It seemed to leave a vacancy in our lives that nothing would ever fill. But it seems that time heals all wounds and that many other blessings come and soon such terrible heartaches drift into the background of life and the present becomes more real than the past.
As time went on we decided that we needed an outside entrance into our basement, so Dave proceeded to fix one. At this same time he was able to purchase a used coal furnace for $15 that had been taken out of another house to be replaced with a gas furnace. It was a good furnace and we appreciated it very much. We installed it in the basement with a big register cut into the floor of the living room upstairs. It was so good in the winter as we wouldn’t have to touch it all day long after it had been stoked and banked in the morning. It kept the house warm all day and way into the night. We would take care of it night and morning.
While we were working in the basement, Dave also fixed a large fruit room and a large coal storage bin as well as sleeping facilities for the boys. We set up a washing area in the basement for me, too. So we were quite comfortable in our home. Things take time, but we were accomplishing our goals little by little.
I had been told by doctors that it would be unwise for me to have another baby but my arms ached for a tiny one to fill them, since the loss of Sharon. So against the advice of the doctors, I found myself once again with child. I didn’t have a hard time carrying the baby until the last while. Two weeks before I was to have the baby the doctor put me in the hospital in Havre. I had toxemia and high blood pressure.
On the way to the hospital I had a very strange experience. Of course with my five boys and two girls I was hoping for another girl. In fact all the family were crossing their fingers for a girl, that is except for Clayton. He wanted another brother. Well, as we were driving to Havre, I was saying a silent prayer that My Heavenly Father would grant our desires. As I was praying to myself, a voice said to me as plain as anything could be, “you will have another beautiful boy.” It was such a real thing that I no longer desired a little girl and put my mind at rest knowing I was going to bear a son.
On 26 June 1944 the baby was born and it was a beautiful healthy boy. We named him Grant Alcorn Rowley. I remember that when we called a neighbor on the phone to let the family know, Clayton kept saying, “I told you it would be another boy.” But all the family was thankful it was over and that we had a sweet baby to fill the vacancy left by our lovely Sharon.
Grant was only about four months old when the doctor told us that he also had an allergy and asthma and that if we wanted to save him, we would have to move to a warm, dry climate. So we tentatively decided to rent our farm and sell our stock and equipment and move to Mesa, Arizona.
To be continued…
