He Never Cut Ralphie Any Slack

I wasn’t surprised when afew days after dad come home from the hospital . . . Ralphie said he had to get goin’! He said he had to get back to work. It was a long drive back down to southern Illinois. He packed his little bag and shook dad’s hand.

Then he told dad that he’d come up again before too long. Dad said ok. Me and Alice and Ann stayed alittle longer. We tried to cheer dad up. We talked about things that might be a pleasant memory for him.