Dedicated To Main Page Life History Project
Life History of Mark Harris
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Dedicated
To Main Page Life
History Project
1. Tell about your favorite uncle.
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2. What changes have you seen in technology? (Indoor plumbing, water, telephones, computers, cars, etc.)
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3. Tell something you remember about one of your grandparents. (Were they funny, crazy, loving, mean, or special in a certain way.)
About: Marshall Leroy Harris
One thing I remember
about Grandpa Harris....
Grandpa used to "let" us
(Sharon, Lee and me) pick potato bugs from the garden. He used to
send us back to the garden several times until we had about an inch
in the bottom of a 1 lb coffee can (each visit we got smarter and
didn't come back to the metal shed until we knew there were enough
bugs). He then put some gas in the bottom of the can. The icing was
that end of the visit, Grandpa lit the can. I guess you can call us
pyro's, but it was pretty exiting when you're 5.
4. Did you ever have an accident, illness, or an operation? Pick one and tell about it.
Our son, Billy (William Mark Harris) had a rough start. My wife, Kathy, went into labor at 26 weeks when the baby was expected to be born on Labor Day (??). She was given some "medicine" (magnesium something) to stop the labor, along with a steroid shot to help develop the lungs of the infant - just in case there was early delivery. The doctor said that if the infant had 24 hrs more to develop inside, he's got a chance. Another doctor didn't give as positive of news when he measured the weight of the baby in the stomach (630 grams or so). The prematurity as well as the size combination wasn't good.
Well, Kathy was ordered to bed rest (try to tell a woman something she doesn't want to hear), and 23 1/2 hrs after the steroid shot we were on our way back to the hospital and rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. At 9:19AM on (_______), Billy was delivered Cesarean (they were afraid he would be crushed through normal delivery). He did gain some weight during that extra time in the stomach - born at 648 grams (1 lb 7 oz). Imagine literally a Barbie doll sized baby... or as I tell everyone about the size and weight of a full Molson bottle or a barely legal bass.
Every
day we were in the hospital for his three month stay where he had
many of the obsticals that premature babies have. Hole in the heart,
required oxygen for his underdeveloped lungs, forced feeding, slow
weight gain, many more common issues that are sometimes life
threatening. It was difficult seeing other babies, most who weren't
as lucky with their health. Many babies came and went, and some
passed away while we were in the shared room (with and without their
parents). We taped ourselves reading books so he could hear our
voices when we weren't there - which we believe made the difference
(went through lots of AA batteries!). He came home on Labor Day
weekend at 4 lbs 11 oz. His only health issue has been asthma, which
he seems to have out grown. Now, 8 years later, he's still a small
guy (as most Harris men are), but doing wonderfully well. I'll attach
a couple pictures for archives. One is with some of his basketball
buddies, and another is with his fishing
buddy.
He is a little to young to remember, so I figured
I'd write it for him.......
5. Tell what your hobbies or interests are. (Do you sing, sew, write, hunt, build things, let us know more about you.)
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6. Tell about the changes in television. (Anything you want, earlier shows vs. today's shows, invention of VCR's & DVD's, the sky's the limit.)
I'm probably showing my age on this one. The best thing about TV so far............. the remote control. I got lots of exercise when I was younger, turning up the volume, turning it down. Changing channels wasn't too much of a chore because we didn't have cable, 4, 6, 10, & 13. There weren't a lot of choices for channels. I remember the "rich" folks had the TV with a cord coming out the back, up the wall, down the opposite wall, and then to the couch. All for changing channels. Wow, that was slick! My father and mother might say that TV itself was the big technological achievement, but me, definitely the remote control.
7. Lets be romantic! Tell us about your valentine, first love, first crush, or how you were proposed to, or how you proposed to your sweetheart.
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8. What types of jobs have you had and which did you prefer?
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9. Who was your best friend while growing up, or who is your best friend now? Let us know a little about the friends you have had in your life.
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10. Tell us about your favorite Aunt
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