Grandma Holtzman and Mike at her house
When Grandma Holtzman was 75 (1942), she broke her ankle and convalesced at the Linton Home on West Third.
In 1954 Al Hill, the barber who rented from Grandma Holtzman, was going home for lunch and heard grandma calling for help. Against her daughter's (Ruth) advice, she had taken out the garbage and fallen. Dad was pouring cement at home, but went immediately and picked her up. Cracked pelvis.
In September (1955), Grandma Holtzman had a stroke and was hospitalized for some time. Needing to go to a nursing home, she wanted to return to the Linton home where she had had wonderful memories. With new owners, the home was much different. On the 4th day, Grandma Holtzman's daughter (Ruth) found her alone at lunch with soup and popcorn, unable to eat. The manager said, "But the soup is Campbell's!" Very angry, Grandma Hey called immediately and transferred her mother to a Morrison nursing home. The husband and wife owners gave her a bed with a trapeze bar. Determined to walk out of the home, Grandma exercised daily. The man, who was very good to Grandma, built her a wooden walker and taught her to use it. Leaving the home on Memorial Day, 1956, Grandma Holtzman went to a couple of homes in Sterling before she returned home to live on her own.
Grandma Holtzman attended Aunt Sue & Uncle Ed's wedding at the church on Second Avenue as well as the reception at the Hey residence on First Avenue, December 29, 1957. Someone mentioned that perhaps Grandma Holtzman could come to the reception, and she said, "Oh, no, I'm going to the wedding." So son-in-law Al Dean carried her up the stairs and into the church. Letters to her granddaughter Sue show Grandma Holtzman at the Parker home, 1102 First Avenue, in December, 1957 through January, 1958. Shortly after this, grandma returned home again alone. Daughter Ruth Hey turned off the gas stove and began taking grandma three meals a day and seeing that she was safely in bed each night.
After grandson Charlie was born (November, 1959), Grandma Hey went to California to help. With three small boys, my mother (Janna) couldn't go three times a day, and so chose to have Grandma Holtzman live with us for what was supposed to be three weeks. One night, my mom heard Grandma Holtzman call for help because she could not get up to use her portable toilet. Doctor Pohly said she probably had had a small stroke; the 3 weeks turned into 6 months. During this time we often played the card game, "Old Maid," with grandma. Games might not finish because grandma would hide the "old maid card" saying that she didn't like it. Then the card disappeared. After she returned home, my mother found the old maid card safely stashed in Grandma's rocking chair.
Before Grandma returned home, dad did some remodeling in her house so that it was nicer. She managed pretty well during the next couple of years. My mother would go clean up an occasional mess, soak her grandma's feet, and care for her nails. A woman came to give her a sponge bath twice a week. Declining, she could no longer stay alone. Grandma Hey hired Olivia Rodriguez, a senior in high school to stay overnight. After Olivia went to school, a nurse came during the day, until Olivia returned in the evening. Grandma received rent from the barber shop and from her upstairs renter. Grandpa Hey paid any remaining bills.
One summer morning (August 20, 1964), on our way to pictures, we stopped to see Grandma Holtzman, recited Psalm 23, and sang "At the Cross" with her. After pictures, we went to Grandma Hey's. The phone rang and the nurse told Grandma Hey that her mother was probably dying. By the time we arrived, the nurse was waiting on the porch. I vividly recall Grandma Hey crying, and Doctor Pohly putting his hand on Grandma's arm and saying, "You've been a good daughter."
Grandma made the Sterling Gazette.
Grandma to Granddaughter Susan