LEIGH’S STORY

Written by Luz Leigh - 10 November 2007

      It was the fall of 1938. She should have been happy. She was happily married to a wonderful man. They celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in September of that year. They were parents of a little girl who would celebrate her first birthday on Christmas Eve. But this beautiful young woman was sad beyond words. Following the birth of her first, and to be her only child, she never seemed to recover from childbirth. Then it was determined she had tuberculosis or TB, as it was called. In those years that was almost a certain death sentence.

      But her husband was a determined man. He had lost his first wife to death because of cancer. He did not intend to lose another mate. With the help of their family physician, friends and political acquaintances, Felix learned there was a TB treatment center near San Angelo, TX, hundreds of miles away.

      Arrangements were made for Leigh to enter into the center, with hopes she could be cured, or at least have the disease go into remission. The day came when she boarded the train in a little country town in which they had both grown up….the place in which they dreamed of raising a family. She took a seat by the window so she could get once last glance at Felix and the little girl who was named Luz. Until the train was far out of sight, Felix stood waving. Only after she was far enough away to not see them, did he release the tears. She, too, was holding her tears back. When the train rounded the curve and the depot was no longer in sight, she began sobbing as though her heart was breaking.

      Her first night away from home was spent on the train during which time her thoughts turned to Felix and little Luz. Would Luz cry for her at bedtime? Would Felix miss her as much as she was missing him? She had the little blue jewelry box that contained the lock of dark brown hair she had clipped from Luz. She would keep this hidden away until she returned home. As she drifted off to sleep, she was clutching the box to her chest, something she would do for many months to come.

      It was a long train ride. She had been joined by several other patients as the train progressed toward the desolate place they would call home for the next year. After they left the train, they were met by staff members from the Sanatorium who drove them to their new home, some seventeen miles out in the barren countryside.

      Over the entrance to the Sanatorium stood an arched wrought iron sign bearing these words: STATE TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM. The long driveway that led to the main campus of the treatment facility was neatly kept. There to greet them were the dormitories which looked similar to prison facilities, sans the bars. In the days and months to come, she would learn much about her new residence. Besides the numerous dormitories for men, women and even a section for children, there was the dining hall where the patients who were strong enough took their meals. A two-story frame building with a basement served as the x-ray lab. Other buildings included the store, library, a storeroom, the nurses’ home, a filling station and a print shop which published a newspaper for those who lived and worked at the Sanatorium. The paper was named The Chaser. Other things at the facility included a dairy, hog farm, butcher shop, bakery, four water wells, power plant and a school for the children. Also located there was an incinerator which the patients, and probably staff as well, referred to as the “bug burner”. People with TB were referred to as having “bugs” so the incinerator would have been used to burn any disposal articles used by the patients.

      Church services were held on a regular basis. The Masons, Order of Eastern Star, bridge club, sewing club and a stamp collectors club all had the use of certain areas. This was virtually an independent community.

      Most of Leigh’s days were spend in bed….resting. The popular treatment of the day was bed rest and phrenic nerve paralysis. Leigh received the local newspaper from back home and clipped many articles which she later included in a small journal she wrote during the latter years of her life. One such article bore the headline “County Officials Sworn in Monday”. Next to the printed article, which was dated 1939, Leigh wrote these words, “I was in Tom Green County the first time Mr. Hardee was sworn in.” She was referring to her beloved Felix. Later in 1945 she wrote: “There are 3 of the men dead that were sworn in”. 

      When Luz was nearly two years old, Leigh returned to the little girl who had not seen her mother in over a year. Although the child may not have remembered her, the two quickly became as close as if Leigh had never been away. 

      Sadly, to report, Leigh was not healed. The TB was in remission for a few years, but just a few days past her twelfth birthday, Luz said a final goodbye to her mother. Leigh, sensing she would not live to see her daughter grow into adulthood, spent many hours teaching Luz things about life. In the days before the facts of life were seldom discussed with very young girls, Luz learned about the changes her body would go through; feelings she would experience. Leigh continued to teach Luz about the Lord, telling her she must not be bitter following the mother’s death, that this was just a part of the Plan.

      So on a cold January night in 1950, the once beautiful young woman with the raven black hair, sparkling brown eyes, long slender fingers and the most beautiful face Luz had ever known, took flight from this world to one where she would again be free of disease and pain. She simply went home. Leigh was thirty-six years of age.