Thoughts and stories, by Pal

If we think we have it hard, this story will help us put it into perspective. I posted this early in my blog, # 134 in fact!  You can find many stories about my mother's under "Labels", and Ruth Allen (her maiden name.)  She wrote this about when she was 10 years old.      I've included some after her story of the flu, just to give you an idea of how difficult their life was, as her mother was left a widow with 8 children.   -------------------------------------Below written by Ruth Allen ---------        I’ve heard that the flu of 1918 caused more deaths than the war did.  (World War 1) Be that as it may be, a great amount of the deaths of the soldiers was terminated “flu.”       It was  before the days of penicillin  or any other drug we use now to fight bad colds or “flu” with.  It was in Europe, and all parts of the United States and in the  entire world. ...

              The Flu of 1918  – Written November 1993 from Ruth's journal      I’ve heard that the flu of 1918 caused more deaths than the war did.  (World War 1) Be that as it may be, a great amount of the deaths of the soldiers was terminated “flu.”       It was before the days of penicillin or any other drug we use now to fight bad colds or “flu” with.  It was in Europe, and all parts of the United States and in the entire world.      It hit Panguitch about October so we stayed on the farm a few weeks longer so we would not get exposed to it.   We moved from the farm November 11, 1918, into town as we came into town we could hear Church bells ringing, and school bells saying that the war was over, but the dying had just begun as far as we knew.  For the town was full of “flu”.   Everyone was wearing masks we made ourselves by doubling gauze several times ...

I have written about my mother, Ruth, in blogs:   # 80, # 73 (mostly pictures) # 33, # 30, about when she was on the very first extraction mission, # 24, of a Christmas she had as a child, # 16, what I learned from her about controlling anger, # 7, telling of "The Suet Pudding Story", including my dad and Grandma Allen, and # 6, the story about "Closing my book" , which was when she was taking care of a dear friend as she was passing from this life. All these stories are great, but I want to give a synoposis of the early part of her life today. Today I've   just been to the funeral of a lady who lived to be 95, and the viewing of a man who was Wayne's first principal here in St. George, when we moved down here in 1981.  It makes you think about your own family who are gone, and also wonder what people may say about you in your own funeral!   I will tell more of her parents and grandparents later. My mother was born Ruth Allen, the 8th child of John Butl...