As offspring of the fifteen year old son of William C. Brown our only exposure to this debilitating illness was witnessing our Uncle Sam die of it when we were in our teens. He was once a strong man who could do one handed pull-ups. Several years later he was reduced to a scrawny and pitiful sight. He could only breath by carting around an oxygen tank, which he wasn't even strong enough to carry himself. I recall him often experiencing cough spasms. Deep, scratchy, and loud. They weren't pretty to watch. Various shades of brown phlegm and liquid foam would protrude from his lips as he could barely stop the spasms. Hacking and grasping for air with each cough. Though he was our uncle - certainly part of our family, and kind to us - he wasn't close to us like the heartfelt relationship between a father and a child. We can't even begin to imagine, what pain, sadness, and fright both William Brown and his young son Bill must have gone through.
About six years earlier when Bill was nine. He and his younger brother (Our now deceased Uncle Ed Brown) were likely waiting in another room of their house while their Mother, Alice Brown was in labor with their sister. Expectation, wonder, and probably a bit of joy instantly vanished. We would never know our Grandmother or our aunt. God meant otherwise. Providence has two sides. And our Dad and his brother's world changed in a way that thankfully none of Bill's children have had to experience. Dad has told us that his mother was a Godly woman whom he had often seen bowed in prayer.
In the midst of all this he still had childhood moments. Filled with fun and accidents. Dad fell out of his grandmothers attic window. Thankfully his arm and the concrete patio broke his fall. He walked away with a broken arm. He says the patio was OK too. He, Uncle Ed and the kids in the neighborhood would take advantage of the steep Beechview streets on snowy days. The steep cobblestone streets became impossible for most divers, but not for the neighborhood sled team. Judging by the smile on Dad's face as he recounted the story they must have had a good time. No doubt it had something to do with traversing parked cars, curbs, and sudden ends to the road way. He used to say no one got sick when he was young. We recall Dad laughing as he explained that it was better to fake being well when you were sick than to take every illnesses remedy - Caster Oil.
Before Dad, known to others as Robert William Brown and to friends and family as simply "Bill" was sixteen, he had lost those most dear to him. His Dad was able to re-marry in the short time since his mother's death. But our Dad's stepmother became bitter at the unexpected loss of her new husband. She felt abandoned and stuck with two children and no provider. Dad started working before he could drive - while our Grandfather was ill. Dad became his family's provider. While rarely missing a day of school he worked at a Drug store and later after his father's death at a Gulf gas station. His paychecks went to providing for his stepmother and himself. Times were tough. Uncle Ed, Dad's brother, had to live with "Ma", our great grandmother. Ma was Alice Brown's mother. His stepmother grew more bitter at her circumstances and they were at best struggling to make ends meet. Dad was sick to find out one day when returning home from school that she had sold his two dogs. The last of Dad's friends were gone.
In all this sorrow God did shine a little light through the clouds in the form of his mother's brother; Uncle John Gray. Uncle John would be a source of encouragement to Dad until his sudden death in the late nineteen sixties. He set a strong example for him. Perhaps such care was an answer to his mother's prayers. Dad also found some comfort in visiting Ma's house and lived with Ma after graduating high school for just a short time until he voluntarily enlisted in the service during the Korean War.
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