6/13/97
Virginia called to explain how her father Mac saved her from dying from rheumatic fever.

When I was eight years old I had rheumatic fever and I was in the hospital and  I was dying.  The doctor said there wasnt anything that they could do for me. So my father says no, no, Im taking her home. So he wrapped me up in a sheet, took me out of there and he brought me home. He walked to church, he prayed, oh, what a man he was. He had the priest come and give me holy communion every Sunday. He would have the doctor come and give me an electrocardiogram constantly. I stayed in bed for a whole year.   I couldnt get out of bed. I mean he would take me piggy-back to the bathroom and back. One time I had a relapse. I woke up. I thought my nose was running and I didn’t understand. Blood had gone all   the way through from my nose all the way through the mattress. All he did was say, Its going to be ok. Youre going to get well.  I got well. I got well with prayer and love and he would put stars on the ceiling. You know those little pasty stars. He put those on the ceiling so I could pretend that I was outside. All the activity was centered in my bedroom upstairs, the big Christmas tree. Everybody that came would come to my room. Thats where everything was centered. And we didnt have anything. We didnt have any money. He would leave a dollar on the kitchen table for my mother to fix dinner. And she fixed a wonderful dinner. We would put cardboard in our shoes if you had a hole. I never thanked him … God I wish I had thanked him.  He was such a wonderful man … I want to tell everybody thank your Daddies now, while you have them.