The neighbors reported they heard them fighting
very loudly one night,...My Aunt Eleanor and my Uncle
Roy.....and after it was quiet,
Roy got in his car and left town.
The next morning, my Aunt Eleanor, "Ongie" she was called
left the house, went to the doctor, ended up at the
hospital,
and while there she had a stroke
...no one in the family knew she was there
right away,...and she could not speak for herself...
no one could give permission to "give
treatment", or perhaps the end result may have been avoided
or perhaps not.
She became paralyzed on her right side, lost her ability to
speak.
Now Ongie was a Musician and a most lively person,
She'd
brighten a room by just walking in, she played every
instrument and led an all
girl band. They played nightclubs on both sides of the
border. She played by ear, a natural talent.
And most tragic, she could not tell us what had happened
"that night"..........
Roy returned from his trip as if nothing was amiss, (after a
week), no one knew where he went to inform him of what
happened.
So then he hauled out fists fulls of cash for Ongie's
behalf. But no one could get him to admit that there had
been a fight..all was just fine.
No one really accused.....no crime was spoken of.....maybe
she fell....we just did not know.
Ongie remained in the hospital for quite some time. Roy
remained at home with my cousin David (Roy was his
stepfather/second marriage) David stayed with him because
Roy had set to drinking non stop. David could not get him to
eat or leave the house.
And Ongie did not really get better it was a permanent
condition, she'd be an invalid for life,.....might learn to
walk, with help, could learn to use her left hand, might be
able to learn to speak limitedly.
After two months of this non-stop drinking David calls all
the family to the house, Roy wants to speak to us all.
He was not coherent at all, he rambled on an on about all
the things he was going to do for Eleanor.....
He made little sense. I watched his eyes as one of them moved away in its
own direction without the other following. (I was 10)
We all left one by one...no one spoke....there was a call
again the next morning....David again.....Roy had fallen
down dead sometime in the night...breaking his neck......
Eleanor remained an
invalid 17 years before her death.
