A nurse came to get him, but he was back in my room almost immediately, saying the baby was too weak to transfuse. She lived just four hours and her mother never saw her, or held her. We named her Janis Lynn. Many years later we found out that the heart murmur we'd been told was the cause couldn't have resulted in death. For a premature baby to survive four hours, or even been born alive, after all the drugs I'd been given, she would have had to have a very strong heart. The following months was a time when our loss was ever present. I tried not to cry when Walter could see me, for I knew how badly he felt; instead I'd hold it all in until he was asleep at night. My weight dropped to 107 lbs. and for the life of me I couldn't get it up past that mark. That Fall Dad wrote to ask me if I'd go up to their cattle ranch, in Oregon, to help them get the hay in. I doubt that the entire reason was the labor shortage up there, but the folks probably thought it would do me good to get away from the memories in Lubbock for a short while. So, I hopped on the train and was off to be a farmer for six weeks. Mostly, I drove the truck that carried the bales of hay to the storage area. The days started at the crack of dawn and ended when it was too dark to see what we were doing, but the hard work must have been what I needed, for my appetite returned and I started sleeping better. At the end of six weeks it was so good to get back to Walter and our home in Lubbock.
The time came when the glider training program was drawing to a close at South Plains Airfield, and we learned that our next stop would be North Carolina, where Walter would take his three months' overseas training. First, we took the car, dog, and household items back to Pomona to park them "for the duration." Then, took the train to Dallas, where we met friends who were driving the rest of the way and welcomed a couple of passengers. We managed to find rooms in private homes about 20 miles from the Maxton-Laurenburg Base, so settled in for that brief stay. We had to walk a short distance to town for meals, which wasn't too bad, but the choice of menus at local cafe's kept Walter in a state of indigestion most of the time. Peanut fed pork was the only meat available, so every dish contained greasy pork as an ingredient, which didn't seem to agree with Walter's system.
A short while, after we arrived in N. Carolina, we had a phone call from Jack, saying he was scheduled to go overseas almost immediately, and would I come up to Newport News, Virginia to get his car? That way I'd have a car to return to Calif. in when Walter left for his overseas suty. When I got off the train in Newport News, and went to the hotel where a friend of Jack's was to hand over the keys, and tell me where the car could be located I tried to quiz him as to the condition of the car. He assured me that the only flaw was a dent in the gas tank, and I shouldn't let the gauge fall below 1/4. Next day when I started driving back to N. Carolina it was apparent that the car was in pretty bad shape, but I managed to get into a very deserted and lonely spot before I had a flat tire. With my high heels clicking on the pavement I walked about a half mile back down the road, where I'd noticed a large truck and semi parked, when I'd passed a little earlier. A black man was changing a tire on his truck and when I inquired if he could perform the same operation on my car, he very politely told me that he was already very late delivering his load so couldn't take the time, but if I'd go back to the car he was sure someone would come along to help me soon. So, back I went and started unloading all of the clothes and household items in the trunk, which Lalie and Jack had with them at their last assignment. I figured if help didn't arrive it was up to me, so I might as well get started. About then, I looked up and saw a pickup passing by and pulling in front of my car to stop. The bed of the pickup contained about ten back men. A white man jumped out of the cab, came back to where I stood and asked if they could help, at the same time motioning to the other men to get busy with the tire. Well, they had the tire changed, and everything loaded back in the truck, in about five minutes, but their boss informed me that I should get a replacement for the spare tire they'd put on as it was in very bad shape. He told me there was a town about 15 miles down the road and I should not go further than that, and to drive slow.