Page 23 - Gary's Book - Final Copy 7.9.2017_Active

Looking Back

I was born at 6:15 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Louis on December 22,
1938. Dad was at work that night, so Mom walked two blocks to the bus stop. She

said that I actually arrived when she stepped off the bus across the street from the
hospital. I was a blue baby and sneezed constantly, so I was named Sneezy by the
nurses. Since I was premature, born at only eight months, I spent several days in an
incubator.

My next eleven years were void of love and filled with turmoil. I never received a

kiss good-night or was read a book. I got no birthday gifts or new clothing. My life
was empty. Dad had died when I was eleven years old; soon afterwards, I was off
to my next life. It is from this time that I wish to tell my life’s story to clear up
numerous misunderstandings and unknown experiences.

First, I went to a foster home for several nights. In those days, the social workers
placed a stray child in a foster home for $2.00 a day, which was for food and
clothing. However, I remember once that in March, I needed a coat, but I never got

one. I just had one sweater. During the first month of foster care, I was in eighteen
different foster homes, which certainly did not reinforce feelings of being wanted
by someone. I felt like I was somebody’s baggage. Then, an opening for a foster
child came about at a farm in Mattese, Missouri, through a contact of my mom’s.

A Jehovah’s Witness woman named Alma Jurnic had several openings. She
already had five boys at the time - foster kids and orphans. I was on my way. Later,
my sister, Betty, and my brother, Doug, joined me for a short time.

I will never forget the other kids. Danny Jones was 15 or 16 years old, built like a
bull and was as strong as an ox. Eddie Edwards was 14 years old, and his brother,
Jimmy, was 12. Orville was ten, and his brother, Jessie, was two and in diapers;

their sister Nancy was four or five years old. My brother, Doug, was seven, and
Betty was five.

The older boys were used basically as farm workers, and the others were mixed
into the group as needed. We were there primarily to work on the farm and for the
collection of the monthly paychecks. The clothing received was sold to other
people at the Jehovah’s Witness Hall. Nothing was retained for us. To this day, I

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