1978
I was due with Ambure on
February 23rd, but she was two weeks late.
She was footling breech, which means feet first, and had to be
delivered by caesarean section. I went into labor 1 1/2 days before I was
scheduled to be C-sectioned. Back in 1978,
the dad's weren't allowed to come in the operating room when the baby was born
by C-section. I was really scared. At 11:43 a.m. on the morning of March 8,
1978, we had a beautiful baby girl. Ambure didn't have a mark on her little body
or face. She was very beautiful, with
her dark black eyes and brown hair.
Ambure's doctor was Dr. Jerry Gardner.
He and Dr. Merrill Godfrey delivered her. She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces, and was 20 1/2
inches long. She was sure a big baby,
probably because she was two weeks
overdue! We sure loved little Ambure
because she was our first baby, and she was very special. We decided to name her Ambure because we had
this name picked about for a long time.
We wanted to spell it AMBURE instead of AMBER, because we wanted it to
be different. I tried to breast feed
Ambure, but was too nervous, and after six miserable days, we switched to
formula. After that, things got MUCH
better. Ambure was a very good baby
right from the start. She was sleeping
completely through the night when she was only a week old (the same day/night
we put her on the bottle). She was
smiling and following movement with her eyes by 2 weeks old. On Friday, March 31st, when Ambure was 3
weeks and 2 days old she had a doctor’s appointment. She weighed 9 pounds 14 ounces, and was 21
inches long. It was at this appointment
that we discovered she had a dislocated left hip. We felt so bad about this, because we didn't
want her to have to go through any hard times or pain. They sent us to another doctor (Dr. Franklin
Stuart), and he arranged for her to get a cast put on the following Tuesday.
(April 4, 1978) They would be putting
her under anesthesia in the operating room at McKay Dee Hospital. They would be “setting” her hip in the
correct place, and then casting her in a body cast to keep it in place.
We
wanted to get her blessed before this happened, so two day later on Sunday,
April 2, 1978, Ambure was given a name and a blessing in the Morgan 2nd
ward by her grandfather, Wilden Lee Dickson.
She was given a special blessing that she would grow up healthy without
any hip problems, and that her parents would someday take her to the temple and
be sealed together as a family for all eternity. Those who participated in the blessing were
her dad, Roger Rich, her other grandfather, DeLore (Ben) Rich, a great
grandfather, Reed Dickson, and Wallace Green.
On April 4th, when she was almost 1 month old,
she got her first cast on. It was a full
body cast that fit her just like a starched pair of pants with the crotch cut
out. She really adapted to it quite
well, and was still as good natured as ever.
She had this first cast on for four weeks, and then it was changed for a
bigger one because she was growing.
Ambure was laughing out loud at 6 weeks, and recognizing her mom and
dad. It was about this time she
discovered her hands. She got her 2nd
cast on May 2nd, using the same procedure as before. She wore this cast for 6 weeks. In early June of 1978 we went for a vacation
with Grandpa and Grandma Rich and Joni and Kelly, and Linda and Bruce Frost and
their family. We went to Lava Hot
Springs. Ambure couldn't get in the water because of her cast, but she sure was
a good baby, and sleeping with her mom and dad in the trailer didn't bother her
one little bit. Right after we got home
from Lava, Ambure's 2nd cast was removed on June 12th. It was so good to see her little legs
again! Within 4 days she was rolling
over !! What a SMART baby !! Dr. Stuart,
her hip doctor, was concerned because her hip was still dislocated and hadn’t
stayed in place like it should have. He
wanted to operate on her, but we decided to take Ambure to Dr. Coleman, an
orthopedic specialist in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Coleman fixed Erika Dickson's (Ambure's aunt) hip when she was a
baby (15 years before). Dr. Coleman
prescribed a Pavlic harness for little Ambure's hip. She got this on June 19th. At first she hated it, but she soon got used
to it and was a happy baby once more. This Pavlic harness held Ambure's legs in
a frog like position, and as she would kick against the harness, it would
naturally push her hip back into the socket where it was supposed to be. Ambure wore this harness for 6 ½ months, but
at every check-up her hip was still not back in the socket far enough.
Ambure was very
smart baby. She learned very quickly.
Even with her harness, she was sitting at 5 ½ months, and crawling at 6
months. She was always quick to smile
and slow to cry. Ambure was a good
eater, and would eat most anything we gave her.
She was waving bye-bye at 7
months, and loved to patty cake, bounce to music (Happy Days), and play
peek-a-boo. Ambure got all 4 of her
front teeth (top and bottom) when she was 7 months old. She sure had a cute smile. Ambure loved to visit her Great Grandpa and
Grandma Dickson, and loved their dog Sally.
Grandpa and Grandma watched her for a couple of hours in the mornings
while I attended school to finish up my senior year. At 9 months, Ambure was 32 inches long, and
weighed 21 pounds. She had the darkest
eyes, and you could hardly see the pupils in them. Ambure’s hair was dark brown, and was a curly
cap all over her little head. We had a
wonderful Christmas that year, and it was so fun to have a little one to buy
toys for. Three days after Christmas, on
December 28, 1978, Ambure’s Great Grandma Thelma White died of a heart
attack. Two days after that, on December
30th – our sweet little angel Ambure was killed in a car
accident.
Roger switched jobs, and was
hanging drywall with his brother Layne during 1978. They worked for Ted Hansen Drywall, and
Parson's Drywall. Roger switched jobs while I was in the hospital after having
Ambure. What a time to change!!
We wanted to do allot of camping
with Linda & Bruce, so we bought a trailer.
It was an older one, and I can't remember how much we paid for it, but
we had it when we went to Lava in June of 1978.
I remember that Roger's mom co-signed with us, and had the payments
taken out of her paycheck, and then we paid her back. I can't remember when we sold this for sure,
but we didn't have it too long.
We also had a 1972 1/2 ton Ford
truck 4WD. Roger had this truck when we
got married. I remember during the
summer of 1978, Layne borrowed it, and wrecked it up by Ansta Florence's home.
That summer we moved from the
upstairs apartment at Walker's, down to the bottom-right apartment. We bought a Kirby vacuum during this time.
The guy knew a couple of suckers when he saw us. It was a good vacuum, but $400.00 on a
payment plan was a little steep for us at that time. We were too naive to know this, and to say
no.
This downstairs apartment
consisted of a long narrow living room in the front of the home, and then a
narrow hallway and bedroom in the middle, and the kitchen and bathroom at the
back. There was also an enclosed porch
which could double as a bedroom at the very back, however we just used it for
storage. We only lived here for about 3
or 4 months.
In November/December of 1978, we moved down to Milton to 2526 N. Morgan
Valley Dr. in Frank and Lois Anderson's rental. This was a cute little green house. (it has since been demolished) It had a living room and bedroom in the
front, and the kitchen, other bedroom, and bathroom in the back. There was also a washer/dryer hook up. This was a first for us, as we had been using
my mom's and Grandma Dickson's up until this time. We didn't have enough money to buy the washer
and dryer though, but after Ambure was killed we got about $2,000 in life insurance. We used this money to buy a washer/dryer, an
upright freezer, and a bedroom set which we still have today.
We bought a red Maverick car so I could drive back and forth to Morgan while Rog was at
work.
While I was pregnant with Ambure
(during my Junior year) I didn't go to regular high school, except for a young
mother's class that was given for all of us pregnant teenagers. I got credit for this class, and also worked
at the drive-in and got credit for this also.
When my senior year started in the fall of 1978, I went to regular high
school in the mornings. I remember I
took a Health class, and also was in the Warrior Staff class. (School
newspaper) I also went to night school. In January of 1979 I started at Browning
working full-time. I also continued
going to night school, and was able to graduate with my class in May of 1979
December 28, 1978 Roger's Grandma Thelma White died. Grandma White died of a heart attack in her
home. She was about 64 years old. Two days later, Ambure died.
I was working for my Uncle Ray
Whitaker at his meat shop wrapping meat that day. Rog must have been working too, and Ambure
was at my mom and dad's being baby-sat.
After I got off work I picked her up and went up to LuAnn and
Ben's. I remember that Kelly and I drove
LuAnn's car down to Morgan to the car wash to wash it. It was really really cold. Ambure had been laid down for a nap at
LuAnn's. When I got back there, I got
Ambure, got things loaded up in the 1972 Ford truck, and headed down to
Morgan. I think I was supposed to meet
Roger at a service station, where the Chicken Hut is now. Ambure was sitting in an old black vinyl and
metal car seat, (unsafe by today's standards) but she was not buckled into the
car seat, and the car seat was not buckled to the seat of the truck. She had a little white polyester jumper on,
that Grandma Dickson had made for her, and a little lavendar onesie, and her
blue and white furry coat she had just gotten for Christmas. I
remember that she was kind of fussing, and crying, and I put the
pacifier in her mouth and told her I loved her.
I'm glad I can say that that was the last thing I ever said to her. As we were coming around the hill on
Kilbourn's hill heading towards Morgan and I got too far over in my lane
(because a car was coming the other direction, I moved over more than I should
have). My front right truck tire hit a
big rock which had rolled off the mountain, it was a little larger than a
bowling ball I think, and it blew the tire.
It basically twisted the tire, which twisted the steering wheel and I
drove right up the hill (to my right).
The truck flipped over onto it's top, skidded along the road, and
finally stopped in a shallow gully. I
remember as we were sliding along the road, the terrible sound of the asphalt
against the roof of the truck, and just praying that we wouldn't go over the
other side (left) which was a drop off.
After the truck stopped, I was kind of shaken up. I remember getting my bearings, and looking
for Ambure. All I could see of her was
her little legs. I tried pulling them to
get her out, but she wouldn't budge. I
couldn't see anything but her legs, and I couldn't move her. A man had come running back from the corner
(he had been parked there looking at something), and I remember screaming for
him to get my baby out. Just then, Paul and Vanna Carter and their family
stopped. (They had been coming from Morgan)
I remember that they had their daughter run down over the side of the
mountain to a house to call the ambulance, and Paul ran around to the other
side of the truck to help the man get Ambure out. I remember I didn't want to look on the other
side of the truck. I didn't know what
horrible sight I might see. Leon and
Donna Carter pulled up by this time, and it was so cold, I got in their car and
sat with Donna. I was upset, and was just sure that Ambure was dead. I remember saying that she would be buried
with her Great Grandma White. I was
rambling really bad. Somehow, someone
had gotten word to Ben and LuAnn, and they had driven down. I remember LuAnn sitting with me in the car,
and I remember that Ben had gone around to the other side of the truck to see
about getting Ambure out. When he came
back over he was bawling like a baby. He
was so upset he couldn't talk, and all he could do was cry and shake his head
back and forth. I remember LuAnn was
really upset to see Ben bawling. I have
never seen him that upset since. After
the ambulance got there, they still couldn't get her out. The fire engine had to come, and they had to
use the “jaws of life” to get her out.
By this time I was in the ambulance, and also someone had gotten Roger
from Morgan and he was there with me in the front of the ambulance. I remember that Roger Wangsgard was driving
and JoAnne and Glen Allgood were the ambulance attendants. I can remember that they finally got Ambure
out of the truck after about 30
minutes. They carried her to the
ambulance, holding her underneath her arms, and there wasn't any blood or
anything. Me and Roger stayed in the front
of the ambulance, and it headed to Morgan.
We did not go to the hospital though, but over to Dr. Martineau's
office. I guess they knew that Ambure
was dead for sure, and that going to the hospital was not going to help. Ben and LuAnn had to go back home to get
Kelly, and someone had told my mom and dad too, and somehow there was a mix-up
and they all ended up heading to Ogden to McKay-Dee Hospital because that is
where they thought we would be. My dad
was a bishop at this time, and he had been going to marry someone, but he left the ceremony, and
someone else had to do it. At the
doctor's office, they took Ambure back into a room, and me and Rog sat in the
waiting room. My Grandpa and Grandma Dickson and Aunt Maisie were there
too. I remember the doctor came out and
told us that the baby was dead. I asked
him "What did she die of?", and he said, "You were in a car
accident." As if I didn't
know! I meant WHAT had she died of, did
she suffer, etc. Roger was crying, and everything
was a blur. My Grandpa Dickson was crying and kept asking why an old man like
him couldn’t have died, and not my sweet baby.
I remember the doctor wanted to check me over, but I was too upset, and
only wanted to see my baby. We went back
into the room where Ambure was. She was
laying on the table. She had a goose-egg
on her forehead, and on her stomach was a bruise also. She had some petekial hemorrage marks on her
neck too. They asked me if I wanted to
hold her, and so I did – but not long enough.
We were so young and DUMB !
Knowing what I know now, I would have told the doctor and nurse and
ambulance attendants, and mortician to leave the room, and just let us sit
there and hold our baby. But before I
was really ready, Kraig Walker was taking her and wrapping her in a sheet, and
putting her in the back of the mortuary station wagon. Aunt Maisie, and Grandpa and Grandma Dickson
took Rog and I over to mom and dad’s to wait for them to get back from Ogden. It was so sad. When my parents got back, my dad came over to
us and told us over and over that this was NOT the end, and we could have
Ambure again someday. That made us feel
a little better. We stayed at mom and
dad’s that night, and I remember we thought we wouldn’t get much sleep, but
amazingly we did. That night for the
first time in our married life, Roger wanted to kneel and say a prayer
together. He asked Heavenly Father to
take care of our little girl. The next
morning when I first woke up, in that first instant I didn’t remember what had
happened, but then it all comes back, and all you can think is, “ I wish I
could just make time turn back, so that it had never happened”. Grandma White had died on Thursday, Ambure on
Saturday, and Grandma White’s viewing was on Sunday night, her funeral on
Monday, and Ambure’s viewing on Monday night, and funeral on Tuesday. It was an unreal week. The day after Ambure’s funeral I went for a
job interview at Browning, and two weeks later I was at work full-time. Just like that, our lives had changed. At the time we thought we would never be
happy again, but as the saying goes, “time heals all things”, and sure enough
it does. One year and four months after
Ambure died, Amanda was born, and 17 months after that, along came Zac, and in
1988 our caboose – Landon Lee. On
December 12, 1987, nine years after we lost our little one, our family was
sealed together for time and all eternity in the Ogden Temple. I know without a single doubt, that Ambure
lives on with our Heavenly Father. I
believe that she was too pure and too perfect to live on this earth. One day, if we live worthy enough, we will be
able to raise her again to adulthood. We
will be able to hold her in our arms once more, and her little hip will be made
whole, and she won’t have to worry about being crippled, or any of the other
worries that we experience here in this earth life. We look forward to that day.
December
30, 1978 - Ambure was killed in car accident
RICH
- Funeral services for Ambure Rich of Morgan will be conducted Wednesday at 12
noon in the Morgan Stake Chapel, with Bishop Lee Dickson officiating. Friends may call at the Morgan Stake Chapel,
Relief Society Room, 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday 1 hour prior to services. Interment So. Morgan Cemetery. Funeral Director, Walker Mortuary.
PATROL
SAYS BABY KILLED IN ROLLOVER
MORGAN-
The Utah Highway Patrol Tuesday, released details of a weekend accident in
which a 9-month-old Morgan girl was killed.
The patrol said the car, driven by Mrs. Gwen Rich, 18, 2526 N. Morgan
Valley Drive, Morgan, was going north on SR 66 in Porterville at 5 p.m. Saturday, when it went out of control on a
turn. A tire on the car blew out, and
the car rolled over. The child, Ambure
Rich, 9 months, was pinned inside the truck.
My
mom and Erika and some others went to Disney World in Florida during 1978. I don't know for sure which month they
went. My Aunt Dawna had married a man
named Fred Nachman (I think the same year I was married) and was living
there. They went to visit her.
