I wanted to go home immediately, but they would not let me. About three days later, we received a letter from a doctor advising me to come home. It was then that they were willing to let me go.

When my uncle took me to the next railroad town, the people at the station urged me not to go. They said that no home doctor would have advised me to go there. They thought that I, who was coming from the country, would fall victim to the fever. They said that I should stay until the epidemic was over. It must have been a stranger doctor sending for me because he would soon leave.

At first I agreed to stay and to write home. Then I thought about my crippled sister and the smaller children, including my nine-month old baby brother. I thought to myself that my place was at home with them.