minnie's exploding eyeball

"Dear Folks, Mother wanted me to write and tell you of Minnie's sickness and removal of her right eye... About two years ago this summer, she lost the sight in her eye. Never had any sickness or pain and the doctor never knew the cause. In February, the eye began to pain her. She went to the doctor but could get no relief. When the pain became unbearble, she went to the doctor who had treated her here and he pronounced it "acute glaucoma," a swelling of the eyeball which would burst if no relief could be obtained...""

The letter goes on to tell of the many operations on Minnie's eye, finally resulting in the removal of it. Minnie was fitted with a glass eye.

When I first read this letter, written by someone Laura Ingalls Wilder knew well, I had several thoughts almost at once. Minnie's later years are somewhat of a mystery. Maybe this is why. One of the few photos I had seen of Minnie had been taken in profile. Was this the reason? No eye? Was she buried with her glass eye, and (Ooooo!) could it possibly "float" to the surface in the cemetery and be found lying in the grass one day, staring upward? (You know that ants and other insects have been known to bring buried Indian beads from deep below-ground.) And, most importantly, where the heck was I going to find an "eyeball" ornament for my "Little House" Christmas tree? I ought to be ashamed, but that's what I thought. And don't tell me that you can't look at almost ANYthing and right away see the "Little House" connection, if there's one to be found.

This would have been such a great Halloween story if it hadn't turned out to be about Minnie's niece-with-the-same-name, not Minnie herself. That's what happens when you get all excited about the contents of a letter (it went on for seven pages!) before you notice the date it was written. Now I'm ashamed that I ever wanted an eyeball ornament; and to make matters worse, you wouldn't believe the cool eyeball stuff you can find at Halloween!! Gummy candy eyeballs, eyeball suckers, eyeball candles, bouncing eyeballs.

This would also make a great April Fool's story, because, while every word of it is true, it's not really about Minnie, but about another "Little House" book character. And the photograph is not she.

Happy Halloween!
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:36 PM