Fall 1971

A young boy, Joey, spent many weekends attending his brother, John's football games. John went to Penn State and Joey enjoyed watching his idol, John play football. Joey and John had been close and now that John had left for college, Joey became very excited to watch his brothers games. The only trouble was that Joey had leukemia. On the way home from one of the games, Joey became very sick. He had a high fever and his head hurt. The next morning they took him to the doctor to find that he had the Chicken Pox. Even though its not such a bad problem, it could be fatal for Joey. They had to give him a blood transfusion and fast. They put over the radio that they needed and adult that had chicken pox for the blood. After much searching a lady called and donated her blood. Joey was now in a coma and the kids felt like they didn't do enough for their parents who were doing a lot for Joey. Joey's mom prayed for him to die that night, and this confused the whole family. When she prayed for this, his mom got a reply that Joey would not die. The next day they were told that the doctors didn't think he would regain conciousness. They brought Joey home and put a bed in the dining room for him. Christmas came and Joey was still in a coma, it was gloomy and everyone was remembering past Christmas' and their traditions which made them sad. They all had a quiet confidence that surely time and their collective efforts would bring Joey back to them.