Caro's Story
Begun on Feb. 8, 1998
- Part 9 -
September 6, 2006
We decided that we needed a larger house and that we would buy it, rather than continuing to rent. In October, 1966, we found the perfect place for us in Lynnwood, WA, only about three miles from where we were living in Mountlake Terrace. It was a rather small three-bedroom, one-bath house, but it had a huge back yard and a fairly large outbuilding, which could be a shop where Buddy could work on his electronics. It cost $11,950, so we had to take out a mortgage. We moved in the second week of November.
There was a bedroom for each of the girls, although little Linda slept in our bedroom, in a bassinette, for a few more months. It was wonderful! The house came with a stove and refrigerator. They were old, but they worked just fine. There was a huge carport, with a built-in barbeque at the far end, which I was already picturing as a great place for the girls to ride their tricycles. I was excited to have my own washing machine, for the first time, but no dryer.
At 22 years old, I felt that I was on top of the world. I had two precious daughters and a husband who loved them dearly, was a hard worker, and was good-hearted. Buddy was seriously working hard on his problem with jealousy. Life couldn't be better!
Christmas of 1966 was the best one, so far. We were able to invite Buddy's family to share Christmas Eve with us. Everyone wanted to hold baby Linda, but were careful to shower Vikki with attention, too. We had moved my childhood piano with us, so the whole group gathered around it to sing Christmas carols. Buddy's mother, Mary, played for us. After the children went to sleep, we all played Pinochle until the wee hours. We talked about our hopes and dreams for the future. We went to my parents' home on Christmas Day. Again, all focus was on the new baby, with lots of hugs, cuddles, and attention for Vikki.
Not having a dryer made keeping up with laundry difficult. Even though I had an indoor drying rack, our house took on the appearance of a "Chinese Laundry." Diapers were hung on the drying rack, while other clothing hung from hangers, here, there, and everywhere. I had to do laundry daily, just to keep up with it. In Spring of 1967, Buddy put up a clothesline in our back yard. He strung ten lines on it, so the diapers were sun-bleached and sanitized, at the same time. Oh, what a blessing!
Vikki turned three on April 19, so she was more than ready to take advantage of the big carport. Because Linda was still so small, she remained a "houseplant" that Summer. We decided to completely fence in the back yard, so we wouldn't have to be worried about Vikki playing outside. We put up a chainlink fence and it looked nice, as well as bringing a measure of safety. Buddy hauled in yards and yards of sand to make a sandbox for Vikki to play in.
On September 20, our little Linda had her first birthday. We breathed a mental, emotional and spiritual sigh of relief. She had survived her first year. The loss of Monica had made us ultra-vigilant of Linda. We watched her like hawks. I'm sure that we were both overprotective of her, but I think it's understandable.
Christmas of 1967 was loads of fun. Between the gifts from Buddy's family, the gifts from my family, and "Santa Claus," the girls made out like bandits. Our living room was virtually carpeted with toys. Fisher-Price made lots of money from all of us. Life was so good, but it was to get even better.
In January of 1968, I was the "welcome" recipient of an abcessed tooth. OUCH! I went to my dentist (no name mentioned here - you'll soon see why). I had been popping aspirin, like it was going out of style, and would soak the offending tooth with whiskey - YUCK! - then spit it out. The dentist said that I would need a root canal, but would have to take an antibiotic before he could do that. So, he armed me with the antibiotic and DARVON, an incredibly strong painkiller. Praises BE! I would be out of pain!!! I took the two medications as soon as I got home. Six hours later, I took another dose of each. Ahhhhhhh, relief!
After dinner that evening, a girlfriend - Linda, from high school days, came for a visit. While sitting in the living room chatting, I began to feel nauseous. As I was flying down the hallway to the bathroom, I heard her say, "You're as white as a sheet. What's wrong?" I didn't regurgitate food, it was pure blood. Off to the emergency room we went. Linda drove me, since Buddy needed to stay with the girls.
I was immediately admitted and had to have my stomach pumped. The DARVON had reacted with all of the aspirin I had taken and had thoroughly irritated my stomach lining. Having one's stomach pumped is NOT a fun thing! They run a tube up the nose, down the throat, and into the stomach. That tube is attached to a vacuum machine, which sucks out all of the contents of the stomach. They couldn't give me anythin for sleep, because of the drugs I had already ingested. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night.
Early the next morning (Saturday), a nurse removed the tube and brought me a liquid breakfast. Around mid-morning, a well-dressed man entered my room. He was the hospital Psychiatrist!
He asked simply, "What happened?"
I told him that it wasn't a suicide attempt, just sheer stupidity. He was concerned that the Dentist hadn't warned me about the interraction of the two pain medications, aspirin and DARVON. He wrote into my chart that it wasn't a suicide attempt, thank God.
While I was "drinking my lunch," another visitor arrived. A short, slender man timidly entered my room and said, "Are you Carolyn?" I answered that I was and wondered if this was another "Shrink."
He looked at me and said, "I am your Father."
I was stunned. He told me that he had phoned Mama and gotten our phone number from her. He then called our house and Buddy told him that I was in the hospital. Buddy thought it would be a wonderful surprise for me if my father would visit me at the hospital.
That is how I met my biological father, William Darrel Zeran (he went by Darrel). He told me that I was almost a carbon copy of my biological mother, Barbara Pearl (Van Dalsem) Ludrosky. He said that she was beautiful and that I was, too. He gave me my brother, Bill's phone number. I was thrilled about that and could hardly wait to call him. Darrel didn't stay for too long, but we made plans to meet at my home for a longer visit.
Buddy came later that afternoon and said that he hoped that I wasn't upset by my father's visit. I told him that Darrel would be coming for a visit sometime after my hospital stay and that I planned to get as much information about my brother and sister as I could.
I was released from the hospital the next day and was so very glad to be home. It was awful being away from Vikki and Linda. I missed them terribly and Buddy, too. The girls were quite "clingy" for several days. The following week I had the root canal done.
In April, I discovered that I was pregnant, again. It caught us by surprise, because I had faithfully been taking birth control pills, since the birth of Linda. Buddy became quite upset, because he was concerned about what the doctor had told me. He suggested that I make an appointment with Dr. Yarbro immediately. I did.
As expected, Dr. Yarbro was extremely upset about the pregnancy. He said that to allow the pregnancy to continue was to put my life in jeopardy, as well as that of the baby. He wanted me to have a medical abortion.
Coming Soon!
Part 10
to What's New?
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