In early February 1980, word was that our sister Marie’s health was deteriorating quickly. A decision was made to take a trip to see her. Lorene came up from Covington, LA to join us. As Ward, Peggy, Lorene and I left Haughton, LA snow was coming down and continued the entire trip to Illinois. Although our trip was slow and somewhat treacherous, it happened without much difficulty, mainly because Ward was driving.

Once we arrived at Aunt Lola’s home in Crossville, IL, we were told that Marie had died during our trip. This of course brought much sadness to our family. We spent most of the evening consoling each other and passing information to family members not present.

Late into the evening, folks started to find a place to sleep. Lorene and I somehow ended up in living room/den area where we found a twin bed. After much conversation, we eventually fell asleep. Imagine two grown individuals on one twin bed. I suppose we did alright, but the next morning Aunt Lola came in with a huge grin when she saw us.

Without a word she reached down and pulled a trundle bed out from underneath the twin bed we were sleeping on.

We had a real good laugh during such a sad time, but we also did sleep better during our remaining stay.