Great Grandma Alta Murphy (Her name was Eunice Althier Baxter Murphy. You can understand why she used Alta.) had her throat cut. No, it was not a crime, it was an operation. She had a goiter in her throat that had to be surgically removed. A goiter is a swelling of the thyroid gland that grows into a large unsightly mass in the neck and eventually makes it hard to breath. It is caused by a shortage of iodine in our body. Luckily, we don't hear much about goiters any more because, late in the 1920s, soon after Alta's operation, they began putting iodine in our salt. The surgery on her throat left a long scar. To cover the scar she wore a crystal necklace. You can see it in this picture. I have the necklace and would be glad to show it to you. I also have the letter she wrote to her six children on the night before her surgery. She wrote her testimony and final words to her family in case she didn't survive the operation. I chose not to put the letter on my blog, but I would be happy to have the family read it. Someday the necklace and the letter will be passed on to one of you.
3 comments:
WOW. That really is a neat story. Looking at that picture you would have never known the story behind that necklace. That really is interesting. Thanks for sharing another great story with us. I LOVE reading your blog. I just posted pictures of our cousins dinner on my blog, so you will have to take a look! Thank you again!
How did the necklace come to you? I know several other grandchildren who are still alive. Thank you for sharing the picture of her. I had seen it long ago, but with the eyes of a child.
I loved the story. The necklace is something I remember my mom mentioning (you know she always liked to tell stories about any family jewelery), but I am not even sure she knew that you had it. Such a sneaky grandma.....
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