I knew that it would be very difficult to locate my Uncle Johnny’s Grave. Especially when you consider all I had to begin a search was his Veteran’s burial flag. But after that dream I had about my mother and her very vivid conversation with me about Uncle Johnny,I had a feeling that divine help was with me and it would only be a matter of time before something happened that would lead me to Uncle Johnny’s Grave. Little did I know that I wouldn’t have to wait too long for that divine intervention!
We happened to be getting ready to move a few weeks after I had the dream,and anyone who has moved knows the hassle of gathering all your “stuff” into boxes and going through your current place of residence to make sure you get everything packed and secured for the moving trucks. Our move was a crazy one,as I had lived in the house I grew up in and recently had just turned 42. You can imagine the amount of “stuff” I had to go through and pack! I proceeded rummaging through my basement and attic after all of our main belongings were packed and secured. I couldn’t believe how many things had gathered in those two places! Boxes and boxes of items that I had long since forgotten about. Boxes of old family pictures,boxes of old trinkets and toys I had kept from the days of my childhood.
One box in particular was very interesting. In that box were files and documents that I had no clue existed. Taking a breather from the moving of things around in cramped spaces I decided to go through the box to see what was archived in those files. Call it intuition,but for some reason as I was going through one of the files in the box I once again got that strange feeling that I couldn’t explain. The same feeling that hit me in the house the first time I saw Uncle Johnny’s flag. There was a reason I needed to look in that file. Didn’t take long to find out what that reason was.
On a small piece of paper were words written in my mothers handwriting:
JOHN
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HOSPITAL
STOMACH CANCER
FEBRUARY 29th,1972
You want to talk about moments where you experience chills so strongly that it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end? You want to talk about moments where you are so freaked out by the unexplained that you almost believe reality as you know it has been altered in dimension? Well,this was indeed one of those moments. I had NO IDEA I had this box,much less this file,much less this small piece of paper. Buried in between old photos of the family,old letters,old trinkets. Why had my mother written this? When did she do it? When was it put in this file and why?
I have no solid explanation. I will only say that my mother had written these words on this paper at some point in time. The paper was now in my hands after looking through the file! I could not believe it! It took me just a few minutes to process what I had found and start to think about what this meant.
Uncle Johnny had left New Jersey for Indiana,that was certain. He was laid to rest in Indiana,that was certain. So why University Of Chicago Hospital? Stomach cancer? That date? I then realized suddenly (I call it divine intuition) that he had actually DIED in this hospital from this disease and on this date. Though I knew he had lived in Indiana, Chicago is a major city easily accessible from the northwest part of the state. My family and I did not know exactly where he had lived in Indiana,and the postmarked package containing his flag had long since vanished. MAYBE this scenario was possible? Uncle Johnny had died of stomach cancer on this date in University of Chicago Hospital? I had to find out.
I checked the internet and found out that University of Chicago Hospital had changed it’s name to University of Chicago Medical Center. After 30 years I am sure names of places can certainly change,but that didn’t seem very significant to me and didn’t deter me from the idea of calling the hospital directly. I looked up the number to General Information,then made a phone call.
After getting through the main desk and explaining that I was interested in finding out about a former patient who had died decades earlier (and why I was seeking this information) I was transferred to the department that handles patient records. I ended up speaking to a very nice woman who let me know that all patient records dating more than five years old were not kept in the hospital’s computer system. She also proceeded to tell me that there was no way to trace anything back further than that,as all the hard copy records had been archived and she had no clue where they had been sent. Though I was disappointed,it made sense to me. After all,the date I presented to her was February 29th,1972. More than thirty years had passed! I really didn’t expect to have a solid answer,though I was optimistic to a fault. I thanked her for her time,gave her my name and number in case she could eventually locate any archives ( I figured that was probably never going to happen) and then I hung up the phone. I finished going through the boxes of files looking for anything else that might give me a clue (found nothing) so I put everything back in the box and finished packing. I was definately more than disappointed,but I knew the small paper with info was found for a reason. There HAD to be a reason!
I was doing more packing in the house for a few hours after the phone conversation I had,thinking and wondering why I had found that piece of paper in the box and then suddenly the phone rang.
It was the woman from University of Chicago Medical Center!
She proceeded to tell me that after I hung up the phone with her,she had gone to her supervisor and asked him about the archived patient records. Her supervisor told her that the archived records were still kept in the hospital,located inside a basement storage area. She then proceeded to tell me that she was so intrigued by my story,she felt such a strong impulse to go take a look in the basement files until she found Uncle Johnny’s records for me!!! She said it was a strange impulse,very strong indeed! Something she definately felt she had to do. I,of course,knew that same feeling!
She then told me about Uncle Johnny’s hospital stay. What caused his admission,how long he was there,what treatments he was given and when he had died. It seems that Uncle Johnny had a very short stay in the hospital,only a few weeks. He was admitted for serious abdominal pain and bleeding. He basically was given drugs to ease the pain,as his condition at the point of admission was terminal.
On February 29th,1972 Uncle Johnny did pass away from the direct result of stomach cancer.
The information she gave me that was the most telling about how to find his grave,however,was the name and location of the funeral home where Uncle Johnny’s body was sent after he had passed away. She let me know the funeral home was in Merrillville,Indiana. Merrillville is located about 33 miles southeast of Chicago. I now had the name and location of the funeral home that had been responsible for draping that Veteran’s flag on his coffin all those years ago. I now knew much more about Uncle Johnny’s last days from the conversation I had with this wonderful woman from University of Chicago Medical Center. She took the extra time out of her busy work day to locate Uncle Johnny’s patient records for me. A big favor indeed and I will forever be in her debt.
I was sure someone at that funeral home may be able to tell me what cemetary they had interred Uncle Johnny’s body,provided the funeral home still even existed. Provided they still had solid records. Provided I wasn’t going to get this far just to hit a dead end!
The search for Uncle Johnny’s Grave had now been made much easier,but there were still some more hurdles to jump over. But this was the point of no return for me. Too much had happened to give up the search. Losing at Hide and Seek with my Uncle Johnny was no longer an option.
