A Doctor Who Made House Calls, Alexander City, Alabama

This story was collected in 2011 by the Alabama Humanities Foundation. 

"My dad's name was Dr. Harold Eudark. He practiced medicine in Alexander City for many years over at the old hospital and at the new hospital. He worked very hard in his office, had an office down on Madison Street. My sister and I recently went in the office. We just had to reminisce a little bit and go through the office and look at it. The thing I remember about dad's medicine practice was he would go on house calls. Sometimes at night, he would get a call to come out to someone's house. I would always beg to go with him. I was just a little girl so I'd get in the car and go with him. When he would go in the patient's house, I would be left in the car. It would be very dark and always very scary. When he would come out, I'd always say, "Well daddy, what did they have?" He would always say, "He would always say they had the epizudix." That was his way of maintaining patient privacy.

I can remember seeing dogs, boxes and things along side of the road. Their eyes would light up at night. It would make me think of the big bad wolf and really frighten me. Mom, as I've said before, was an artist. She studied art at Sophie-Newcomb. Then she came here and painted. She would always take me out with her, sometimes in the afternoon, we'd go out. She'd sit with her easel and paint out in a field or the pasture, maybe painting a barn. I would go with her and play. Too, she would always take her camera around with her and when she would see an interesting house, a barn, she'd say, "stop" and she would pull off in these people's houses if it was an unusual house and start making pictures. I would just be, "Let's get out of here."

I guess that's all I can think of to say now that other than all of our children and descendants that might see this, you are loved. You have been loved by your parents and your grandparents. I hope you enjoy this today. It took all my courage. That's it.

Thank you so much. A bear. Yeah a bear..."

Asset ID #3966