One of the tough times we had when we were young was when brother James (we did not call him "Jim" in those days) got hit with scarlet fever. It had been in our town and finally caught up with us. The local doctor came to the house and diagnosed the problem; then James went to bed for six weeks. The trick now was to keep it away from the rest of us. The twins, Shirley and Sheldon, were 8 years old; Charlotte was 16, a junior in high school. Jim was 11.

Our folks decided very quickly what must be done. Mamma would stay home to take care of James, of course, and the twins and Benny Bob would stay home with her and keep separated as much as possible from James. Daddy looked for a place for himself, Charlotte and me to stay away from home. We would stay in school, and Dad would continue his pastoral duties.

He found a place for the three of us to stay. It was in the big Truliçka home, about five blocks south of us on the same street. Jean Gilbert Jones, our 60-year-old music teacher, and Orin Williams, our 35-year-old coach, were bachelors who had the house rented. There were extra bedrooms upstairs where we slept, Daddy and I in one room and Charlotte in another. The two bachelors had rooms downstairs. As I remember, Charlotte did much of the cooking for all of us while we were there.

The Barnes Public School was two blocks north of the parsonage. It served all grades, first grade through high school. The grocery store was about two blocks away. We were able to walk nearly everywhere we needed to go to keep things rolling at home and at school.

I’m not sure we had chickens and a cow then, but if we did, they needed to be tended. The chickens were my 4-H project, and Daddy and I took turns milking the cow.

At home, Mother kept a heated double boiler on the wood cooking stove into which she put James’ soiled bedclothes immediately after changing. Had to kill those germs! Dad and I had to keep wood split for the cooking stove and the heating furnace, which was in the basement of the house. Mother was doing everything possible to keep the germs from spreading to any of the rest of us.

We "outsiders" kept the groceries coming to the house, passing them through a quickly opened and closed window. It was cold; snow covered the ground. It was a busy and stressful time for all of us. Mother had the most demanding responsibilities, but she and Daddy had worked out the details, and all went well through the six-week period.

Most importantly, none of the rest of us were struck by the scarlet fever germs, thanks to Mother’s constant efforts to keep James isolated.

I forgot to mention the sign tacked to the front of our house, right by the front door. It was a piece of bright red cloth, probably two feet by one foot in size, with the words "SCARLET FEVER" printed on it in large black letters, warning everyone to stay away because the house was quarantined. Those red flags were the custom of the day, and the were only used for serious, contagious, life-threatening diseases.