Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In the spring of 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I have had a fearful cough for several months, begins to be chronic and running about in a car is not helping it very much.” For quite some time Moses had been suffering from both headaches and difficulty breathing.
Between securing contracts and competing projects, Moses was running himself ragged. Constantly being on the go was starting to take a toll. Between the spring of 1924 and the spring of 1925, Moses secured and completed a staggering amount of projects all over the country. At this same time, his health began to worsen. As many of us are prone to do, he ignored the warning signs and just kept plugging along. The breaking point occurred in California that April.
Moses and Fitch Fulton arrived in San Jose on March 27, 1925. He wrote, “Fulton and I got busy immediately, got a good start and pounded away pretty steadily until April 18th when my trouble that had been growing for the past four years came to a climax, and it was a case of life or death. Dr. Moore and Fulton got me to the San Jose Hospital on a Saturday night after an unsuccessful attempt to relieve me of my trouble.
“It took two nurses to keep me alive. When morning came, an operation had to be performed. Madam arrived from Los Angeles in the afternoon, several hours after the operation. I very soon recovered from the shock and while it was necessary to be kept quiet, the Madam was with me every minute, only going to the hotel at night. The day nurse, Vera Schultz, was a good strong girl, and delighted in taking me out in a wheelchair as the weather was fine. I enjoyed being out of doors, the hospital was very good and nicely situated in the city limits. I was in good condition by May 1st and I was taken again to the operating room for the second serious operation, which was successful, after which came the battle for strength. The weather became unsettled and gloomy, which did not help me very much. What I was obliged to go through in the hands of the doctor and the nurses was worse than the operation. All through my illness, I had to keep work going and had to ask the Madam to see that the salaries were paid and the work at the Consistory did not stop. It was opened on time and we were through on April 27th, a few days before my second operation. The members of the studio were very kind to me and my room was filled with flowers; the studio boys did not forget me. I here realized what brotherly love meant…On May 30th, I was allowed to go back to the hotel. I was very weak and could hardly walk. The Madam and I went to Santa Cruz for a week, stopping at the Casa Del Rey Hotel, which was very fine in every way. I made several sketches on the beach and fed the sea gulls. It was wonderful to be able to get out in the sunlight and drink in the pure air after such a long siege in the hospital.” And then he went back to work, picked up the pace and just kept plugging along – again. But this was a bit of a wake-up call for Moses. He would recall that his hospital experience dominated his entire California time that year, with projects being completed either “before or after the taking.”
As Moses celebrated his birthday that summer, he wrote, “The 21st of July was my 69th birthday, and I believe I have a great deal to be thankful for, as my health is one hundred per cent better than a year ago, and we have a good business – there is nothing more to be wished for.”
To be continued…
