Oct 16, 1955
I was huge with Randy, but I picked up spuds, most of the day. Steve and Lee were the real pickers and I mostly held the sacks for them and helped what I could. Saturday night we only had a few acres left and we weren’t going to have the entire crew come Monday morning to help finish, so we worked late. Sunday morning I realized that Randy was on his way. It was about noon when Jess and I started to town, leaving the other boys at my mothers. Dr. Hoffman had planned on taking his family to Jackson, for a ride. He stayed, knowing I would need him, before the day was over.
Disaster averted
October 15 was the deadline for school admission. If you were born after the fifteenth you had to wait until the next school year. I wanted Randy born so he would be just two school years behind Tom. Dr. Hoffman wouldn’t start me early. He said it wasn’t worth the risk. When Randy was born, the cord was wrapped around his neck and he was blue from the exertion of coming. If the doctor had started me early, as I wanted, Randy would have been dead or had brain damage. I will always be grateful to Dr. Hoffman for being wiser than I was.
The machine they were using, at the hospital, to relax you, wasn’t working. Randy was the first baby I had that I didn’t have anything to deaden the senses. It was a wonderful experience. Randy was the biggest of the six sons and weighed eight pounds and one ounce. While I was on the delivery table, I ask Dr. Hoffman, when I could go home. He jokingly said, ‘If you can get up and walk to the car you can go.” I started to get up and he changed his mind and thought I ought to stay for a few days. I only stayed two nights and was anxious to get home .
Dr. Hoffman was more like a personal friend than a doctor. He had one boy and the rest of his children were girls. His wife was expecting about the same time. Dr. Hoffman said if I had my fifth son and they had a girl we would exchange babies. I had Randy and they had a girl but neither wanted to trade. .
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