My family was thrifty as I was growing up. My mom made the majority of the clothes for my sisters and I. We “saved” the milk for the baby, had a large garden to supplement the groceries and went to the doctor only as a necessity. Dad often said we were never to call an ambulance as he could drive us to the hospital faster and he wasn’t going to pay all that money for them to come and pick us up. Part of being thrifty….

After we moved to De Queen, my sister Tammy had to have her tonsils removed. It was a successful surgery and mom and dad decided to leave me at home with her while they attended some ministers meeting. I had my orders which were to basically wait on Tammy, keep her supplied with ice cream and make her stay in bed. Easy enough. I was 17 years old and this would be a cake walk.

During the evening Tammy started coughing and coughing. She coughed so much she was coughing up blood. I got her a small salad bowl to hold and spit the blood into. After a bit, it was at least half full. I kept trying to call my parents to see what I was supposed to do and thinking she needed to go to the doctor but I knew I was NOT supposed to call an ambulance. That was an unnecessary expense. Tammy continued coughing and I was praying and worrying thinking she was going to die while I was home alone with her.

Mom and Dad eventually came home and they took Tammy to the doctor. She had broken one of her stitches coughing. They fixed her up and sent her back home. I was glad she was all right and I wasn’t in trouble. After all, I saved them the ambulance fee — just like I was told.

I don’t recall my parents ever telling me or my siblings never to call an ambulance after that incident. 🙂