Black Diphtheria
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Black Diphtheria
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When I was in
Port Dover one summer I met some American girls who were interested in
art and we used to go out sketching along the River Lynn and other picturesque
places around Dover. We were out on one of our daily sketching tours down
by the fishing boats and the dock when I was overcome by a feeling of
dreadful sickness. I went home to Grandma as I was running a high fever.
She called the Doctor and when he came he diagnosed my illness as a particularly
violent case of Black Diphtheria. I will never forget how I suffered.
My throat was swollen to the point where I could hardly swallow and was
filled with a grey, crepy phlegm. The Doctor told me to gargle with hot
salt water. This seemed to help me and to relieve the soreness. Of course,
in those days they did not have the wonder drugs that they have now, and
I consider myself lucky to have survived this dreadful illness. |
Boating on the River Lynn in Port Dover
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I used to love
going on a boating excursion up the River Lynn with my Father. We would
rent a rowboat and row down the river, it was beautiful. There were always
lots of seagulls, and lots of red-winged blackbirds. These were happy
times. |
Pete McNabb
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Of course, my boyfriends
from St. Thomas used to come down to visit me at Dover. There was Pete
McNabb, a Catholic fellow I was very fond of. He had two brothers who
were Priests. One was a school-teacher in Toronto and the other was a
missionary in China. He had two sisters who were nuns. Pete did his best
to convert me to Catholicism but never succeeded. |
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