bread , but the family couldn ’ t seem to swallow toast . They had boiled milk , Epsom salts , and aspirin day after day , and of course their plasters . With all the Epsom salts I fed them , the mug under the bed was in great demand , and I disposed of it the easiest way possible : I dumped it in the snowbank at the end of the porch .
I wasn ’ t getting any sleep . I had to put wood on the fire at night to keep the house warm . At night
Mr . Hanna was so very sick , raving in delirium ’ til I thought he wouldn ’ t live ’ til morning . He would have the nosebleeds that seemed to precede death in flu patients . His wife was the least sick of all and if I went to sleep , I ’ d wake up to find her out of bed , sitting beside her husband frantic with worry .
We were all in beds in the big kitchen / living room so I could watch them all at the same time . I kept the living room real warm , so if the children kicked off their covers , they wouldn ’ t get cold . Enough fresh air came in through the cracks in the logs . I kept a coal oil lamp burning all night .
I was there for eleven days . Mr . Spaulding kept trying to find someone to relieve me , and on the eleventh day , he brought Mrs . McCain . The patients were still in bed , but they were better . I had washed their faces and hands every day , but they weren ’ t bathed or their beds changed .
Mr . Spaulding took me back to the hotel , but I just couldn ’ t eat , so I didn ’ t gain strength . His daughter was all right after the flu , but those who survived often took after-effects , and I was one of them . I just couldn ’ t eat ; something unusual for a sixteen-year-old girl .
While this is our last excerpt from Our Trail North in news & views for a while , Edith ’ s granddaughter Diane Grainger admits that this isn ’ t the end of it all . It appears that Edith caught the flu again and was doctored at home by her mother . She was left with some lifelong after-effects . Further to the story , years later this father ( Mr . Hanna ) came back to thank Edith . news & views WINTER 2020 | 37