Dr Rosemary Lucas - “be careful what you wish for”

00:02 Today is July 3, 2023. We are in La Grange Hospital in La Grange Illinois. I am with Dr. Rosemary Lucas. She is my husband, my husband's aunt, and I am Sarah Lucas. So, Rosemary, we are very much wanting to record this wonderful story about when you got a brother. So tell me. Tell me your story about talking with Eddie.

00:37 Okay. The story is. Be careful what you wish for.

00:41 Yeah.

00:42 All right. In 1932, I was five years old and cousin Ed was four. And we lived about two cornfields apart out in Dallas And his mother had a baby and my mother had a baby. They were in the hospital with their new babies. Now, he came over one day. Now, both of us were disappointed because being a boy, he did not. He wanted a brother because for one reason, he was all by himself. There was nobody else in the family, right? And being a girl, I wanted a sister. So we were sitting out on the back porch at our house.

01:29 How old are you?

01:30 Well, I was five and he was four.

01:32 Okay, okay.

01:34 And so the two of us were plotting. Now, my grandmother was apparently taking care of the family while mother was in the hospital. And she was in the kitchen, she saw the two of us out there, a 4 year old and a 5 year old who were sitting on the steps. And we were both lamenting our fate because we got what we didn't want. So anyway, we plotted this all out. And as soon as our mothers came home with the new babies, Eddie would take his wagon and pull it through the corn field and he would put the new baby in the wagon, his sister, and he would pull the wagon through the cornfield over to my back door, and I would meet him at the back door with my brother wrapped in a blanket, and we would just make the switch. And our grandma heard this going on and she stepped out on the porch. And she didn't scold us, she just told us we couldn't do that. And she explained to us that, you know, babies came from heaven and all this kind of good stuff. So Eddie White, that was the end of our plot to, you know, get what we wanted. Now, the ending, interesting ending, is now Eddie was wishing for a brother. Eventually, he got seven brothers. Wow. Wow. Anyway, and then it's sort of an end to the story. And I never got a sister, by the way, until 1939, you know.

03:13 Yeah, that's right.

03:14 That's when my sister came. But anyhow, an ending to the story, which is kind of sad, is that following Christmas, 1932, it was, you know, they had their new baby sister over there. And I had my baby brother, and it was that. But my baby brother became ill right around Christmas. And in fact, he died, I believe the day after Christmas. And then I used to myself, I never told anybody, but I always used to think to myself, aren't it. Anyway, if we made the switch, I'd still have the baby. I'd still, you know, but that was just a little end to it, you know?

03:55 But that's how kids think, right?

03:57 Yeah. But it was kind of funny when I thought about it afterward, that Eddie witch for brother. Well, he got seven of them.

04:03 I love that story.

04:04 Yeah.

04:05 That's great.

04:06 Yeah. Thank you. Anyway, no more stories today. I don't have any more.

04:10 Yeah, you've told some amazing stories today, so thank you.