Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (26 page)

Hal and Tootie met Jim and Noah coming
through the emergency room exit doors. “We thought maybe you two
needed a ride,” Jim said. “Tootie, are you all right?”

“
I just need some rest. A ride with you
might not do it,” she replied. “You aren't going to fit all of us
in that courting buggy.”

Jim grinned. “Ah, Tootie, stop worrying. I
brought my car.”

Hal slid into the back seat with Tootie and
thought she caught a faint hint of rose perfume. Once they were
settled, she said, “Aunt Tootie, what did Peter want you to promise
to do for him.”

Tootie studied her hands in her lap a moment.
When she looked over at Hal, she came up with a reasonable
explanation. “I promised to visit him after he gets home.”

Chapter 17

The next morning, Nurse Hal made her first
visit to the Rogies farm. When Anna took her to Peter in the spare
bedroom, their voices woke him up. His eyes followed Hal as she
came around the bed. “Gute Morning, Peter. I'm Nurse Hal. I stopped
by to see how you're doing this morning.”

“
Guder Mariye,” Peter said
weakly.

“
Would you like to sit up in bed? I can
prop the pillows behind you,” Hal said.

“
Jah, sit me up.”

“
Anna, hold him upright while I place
the pillows against the bedstead.”

Once Peter was sitting, Nurse Hal took his
vitals. “Did you rest well last night?”

“
Jah, I did,” Peter replied,
disappointed as he looked around the room. “I was hoping my special
friend would be with you. The young woman that stays with
you.”

“
Ach, Dolly?” Peter nodded. “She is
still resting up. Do you want her to come visit?” Hal
asked.

“
Jah, I want to have her come be with
me,” Peter said.

“
All recht, I will see what I can do,”
Hal told him. “Now I must leave to finish my rounds. See you soon,
Peter.” She patted his frail hand. He gave her a weak smile and
closed his eyes.

Anna followed Hal out of the room. “I was
surprised that your aendi was not along.”

“
We talked about it. Truthfully, with
her being English, we didn't know if you would want Aunt Tootie to
come see Peter now that he's so very weak.”

“
Ach, it is not a matter of what Jonah
and I want. We want to fulfill Peter's wishes now. What is
important to him is to have your aendi be with him as much as
possible. He has asked for her every time he wakes up,” Anna said.
“Would Tootie be willing to come sit with Peter, knowing that will
help him die happy?” Anna's eyes filled with tears.

Hal gave her a hug. “Aunt Tootie very much
wants to be here. Her thoughts are with Peter all the time. If
Jonah and you don't mind, I'll go home and get her. She will feel
so much better if she can be with Peter.”

Each morning from that day on, Hal left
Tootie by Peter's bedside. She checked Peter's vitals and received
a condition report from Anna. Each time she made the visit, she
knew that Peter was declining. He slept more and took less
nourishment.

Hal worried about Peter's family and
mentioned that at home. “Anna, Cooner Jonah and their children look
tired from lack of sleep. Aunt Tootie should get more rest, too.
The caring process is hard. The waiting and worrying about Peter is
taking a toll on all of them.”

John said he'd go over to sit with Peter that
night. Jim offered to go along. Hal sent Emma to spread the word so
others in the community could take turns sitting with Peter. That
gave the family time to rest at night and get the daily chores out
of the way.

One morning when Hal and Tootie made their
visit, Tootie patted Peter's shoulder. “It's Dolly, Peter.”

He opened his eyes and smiled as he always
did when he saw her. “Sit down and stay a while.”

“
I intend to. Is there anything I can
get you. A drink or something to eat.”

“
I'm starved,” Peter replied. “I would
like a plate of dippy eggs.”

“
Good! Wait a minute.” Tootie rushed to
the kitchen. “Peter is awake. He's hungry, and he wants dippy eggs.
Whatever that is.”

“
It's just eggs flipped over easy and
served runny,” Hal told her.

“
What should he have?” Anna asked
Hal.

“
It's been so long since he last ate,
we should be careful. Have you some chicken broth he can drink. The
dippy eggs is okay for sure if that's what he's hungry for,” Hal
suggested.

Anna set to work, and soon she handed Tootie
a tray. Hal plumped up the pillows under Peter's head. “Now enjoy
your meal,” Hal told him as she left Tootie feeding him.

Anna and Hal listened from the other room.
Anna said softly, “It wonders me that Peter is wanting to eat and
seems more alert.”

“
That happens sometimes. Don't get you
hopes up,” Hal cautioned. “Sometimes, a person will have a bright
moment like that and die soon after.”

Peter said, “You smell like roses again
today. Nice smell that is.”

Tootie giggled. “Thank you. Want to know a
secret? I bought this perfume just for you.”

“
Denki, Dolly, for telling me. We were
never very gute at keeping secrets from each other, were we? Ach,
but the biggest one of all we did keep from everyone else and did
it well.” Peter had a sad hitch to his voice.

“
You shouldn't dwell on that right
now,” Tootie soothed. “Take another bite. You don't want these eggs
to get cold.”

“
I will let it go now that I know you
are going to help me. You promised,” he said, giving her an intense
look.

“
Yes, I did,” Tootie said reluctantly.
“Take another bite.”

Peter sighed. “I am full now and tired.”

“
You should rest,” Tootie
said.

As Peter slipped back down in bed, he
pleaded, “Dolly, you do remember your promise? Please help me.”

“
I said I would. Now rest,” Tootie
appeased.

Peter closed his eyes and fell into a deep
sleep. One he didn't wake up from again. John, Cooner Jonah and
Samuel Nisely were with him through that night. His emaciated frame
hardly made a movement except for his chest rising and falling.

The next morning, Hal and Tootie came
back.

Anna met them at the door. “Peter is not
breathing gute.”

In the bedroom, Tootie stood at the foot of
the bed, watching Peter's long wispy beard rise and fall slowly
with hesitation between breaths.

Hal said to Anna, “The doctor needs to come.
Did Peter doctor with Dr. Burns?”

“
Jah,” Anna said.

“
I'll call him for you,” Hal
offered.

Dr. Burns drove in close to dinner time.
Cooner Jonah met him at the door. “Wilcom, Dochtah. I'll show you
to my father.”

Dr. Burns examined Peter and said, “It will
only be a matter of hours Peter has left. You can call the family
in now.”

By eleven that evening, Peter's bedroom was
lit by two kerosene lamps. The room was full of family, standing
around the bed. Their focus stayed on Peter's pallid face. His
mouth gaped open, and every breath took effort.

Before morning, Peter's raspy gasps stopped.
Everyone in the room stopped breathing with him. After a few
seconds, Peter's chest started to rise and fall again. That
happened several times. Then came the time Peter didn't start
breathing again. After a minute transpired, Tootie went to the
kitchen for Hal. She checked for his pulse and told Anna and Cooner
Jonah, “Peter ist todt.”

“
Hal?” Tootie whispered.

“
I just told them that Peter has
died.”

Cooner Jonah patted his father's hand and in
a choking voice said, “It is God's will. My father is at peace
now.”

Anna wiped tears before she hugged Hal and
Tootie. “Denki and God bless you both for helping Peter.”

Peter's extended family and grandchildren
clung to each other for a few minutes. Finally, the family moved
from the room into the living room. Hal and Tootie went home.
Cooner Jonah hitched up his buggy and went to the phone booth to
call Doctor Burns. When he came back, the family worked out the
funeral plans.

It was not quite daylight when the doctor
parked with the buggies in front of the house. As he entered, he
looked around at all the family. Someone directed him to the
bedroom. Dr. Burns made all the checks for signs of life. He asked
Jonah and Anna some questions, made some notes, filled out some
papers and left.

John and Samuel Nisely washed Peter's body
and dressed him in long johns. Cooner Jonah and Anna left to make
arrangements at the funeral home in Wickenburg. The funeral
director followed them home to pick up Peter's body, driving his
horse drawn hearse.

The men helped the funeral director lift the
body on a covered gurney and into the back of the hearse. The next
day just before noon, the funeral director brought Peter back in a
pine coffin. John and Samuel helped Cooner Jonah and the funeral
director place the coffin in the middle of the living room. John
and Samuel dressed Peter in his funeral clothes, a white shirt and
suit, and covered his face with a white cloth that went down to his
waist.

When they had Peter ready for the visitation
and the funeral, Cooner Jonah pushed the roll away walls away to
make the room bigger. Moses Strutt drove in with the bench wagon.
The men carried benches in and set them in rows. Chairs were placed
around the coffin for the family and three for the ministers.

John and Samuel went home to get their
families for the visitation. Buggies came a few at a time all
afternoon to pay their respects and bring food. The coffin's top
double doors were open and laying to the sides of the coffin.
Cooner Jonah asked each visitor if they would like to view Peter.
If they said yes, he pulled the cloth back so they could see
Peter's face and say their good byes. After people stopped coming,
Peter's family sat with his coffin that night.

The next morning was the funeral. The
possession was long. John drove his buggy in the middle of it, and
Jim followed with Noah beside him to pay their respects.

They parked as they would for a Sunday
meeting service and walked among the other Plain people to the
house. They left the horses hitched to the buggy since the service
usually lasted only an hour and a half. That time would go quickly,
and they would stay lined up to follow the hearse to the
cemetery.

People went past the family seated facing the
coffin. A woman ahead of the Lapp family said to Cooner Jonah, “I
was so sorry to hear of your father's passing.”

Cooner Jonah nodded. She moved on with
sympathetic words for Anna and the rest of the family.

An old friend about Peter's age said to the
family, “Let us hope Peter Rogies is walking close with God
now.”

Cooner Jonah nodded solemnly “I am sure he is
already.”

The three ministers sat in chairs at the
front of the room, waiting for the mourners to assemble. After
awhile, no one else came through the doors. Everyone quietly
waited. The ministers removed their hats and all the other men did
likewise.

Luke Yoder stood up and read Peter's
obituary, starting with the birth and death dates and listed his
family from children to grandchildren to who had been his parents,
siblings and their children. When he finished the obituary, he
quoted the scripture from Matthew. “Come unto Me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. The only way to find rest from our sins
and our work is to come to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance. We
need to submit our will to Him. Only then will we find rest.”

Luke sat down, and Enos Yutzy stood up.
He read the hymn,
Amazing Grace,
and
sat down.

Bishop Eldon Bontrager stood up to give the
sermon. He raised his voice for all to hear him. “Thank God! The
answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

While we do appreciate celebrating the life
of Peter Rogies today, we are also reminded that as death is, it is
the only thing that rescues us from sin. Our lives will end some
day like Peter's life has ended, and if we have faith in Jesus
Christ our freedom will come as Peter's has now for him. Our story
is not about what we achieved on earth but rather about what we
allowed Jesus to achieve for us and in us in this life and in
eternity. Let us pray.”

Bishop Bontrager bowed his head. The mourners
followed his lead. “Dear heavenly Father, sometimes I think only of
the pain of death. Today I thank you for the freedom death has
brought Peter Rogies. I thank you Jesus who made a sinless eternity
after death possible for Peter to find peace in. Amen.”

The bishop sat down and Luke Yoder
stood up. “In Romans it says, For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body.” He spoke to the Rogies family.
“Whereas Peter has experienced physical rest, and the spiritual
rest of sins were forgiven, we will experience that perfect rest
only when we get to Heaven as Peter has found. Now the reading of
the hymn,
The Old Rugged
Cross
.” When Luke finished the song reading, he said,
“Now we will file out and go to our buggies. Wait for the coffin to
be brought out, and the hearse to leave then all of you
follow.”