He Told Her He Would

On March 20, 1959, Corine Johnson visited my dad for the purpose of paying for her funeral expenses in advance. Fearing she didn’t have much time to live and fearing that her son, Ephraim, didn’t have much time either, she also paid for Ephraim’s funeral at the same time. Ephraim had been sickly and in the mental hospital in Milledgeville for 13 years when his mom paid for his funeral expenses in 1959. He was admitted to Central State Hospital when he was 24 years old.

She casually asked daddy that day if he would be willing to look after Ephraim in case her son outlived her. There was no other family.

Daddy told her he would.

Corine’s funeral bill was $575.79. Ephraim’s was three dollars less. Corine’s bill included a burial dress for $23. Eprhaim’s bill did not include a burial dress but did include a trip to Milledgeville to pick him up and bring him back to Reynolds at his death. The charge for that was $3 less than the dress.

Corine died four years later. Ephraim is still living in Milledgeville. He didn’t pass away as quickly as his mom thought he would. And the interest is still growing on the $20 she paid to bring him back to Reynolds.

Daddy found that Corine had been serious about asking him to look after her son. He was named in her will as the person to look after Ephraim. She had been very serious.

I’m not sure about the status the first four years after Corine’s death, but in 1963 Daddy was appointed legal guardian for Ephraim K. Johnson and he served in that capacity for 31 years until the day he died.

I remember every Christmas daddy would have the ladies who worked at his store make a Christmas package for Ephraim and they would ship it to Milledgeville. He made sure he had funds in his personal account in Milledgeville. For many years, the state took care of the tab for people like Ephraim and daddy managed and invested Ephraim’s money, which consisted of the accumulation of a monthly social security check. Several years before daddy died the state changed that policy and Ephraim had to start paying his way until the funds were depleted.

A few months before daddy died I drove him to Milledgeville to visit with Ephraim. I found out that day from the staff at Central State that he has not spoken one word since the day he was admitted in that hospital. At that visit it had been 48 years since he has been a patient at Central State. And it had been 48 years since he had spoken a word.

It has been 60 years now. Can you imagine being a patient in a hospital for 60 years? And not speaking a word to anyone?

The day when we visited Ephraim in that hospital, daddy knew he (daddy) probably didn’t have long to live. He asked me on the way home that day if I would take over the guardianship at his death.

He had made a promise to a widow woman 34 years earlier.

I said I would.

And I did. And I still do.

For the past 12 years I have been the legal guardian for Ephraim Johnson. The only time I ever saw him was that day I took daddy over to visit.

Every month he receives a check from social security and every month I write a check to Central State Hospital on his behalf to pay for his stay. Every month or two I get a call or a letter from his caseworker giving me an update on his health or getting permission to do a procedure at the doctor's office. Once a year I have to complete a host of forms to prove that Ephraim is still eligible for Medicaid.

I completed those forms tonight.

For a man that owns nothing and has spent the last 60 years quietly in an institution, it is not hard to prove.

When I think things are going bad for me and such things happen as getting stuck in a traffic jam or having a delayed flight or not getting what I want for supper or not getting to see my favorite TV show or seeing my favorite team lose the game....

I need to think of Ephraim K. Johnson.

I haven’t got it nearly as bad as I think.

Neither do you if you are able to read this.

Corine had no idea when she made her Last Will and Testament that 43 years later her son would still be living. I would imagine she prayed that he wouldn’t be. I don't know why God would keep a person like that in that kind of shape around so long.

But somehow I would imagine He is trying to teach the rest of us some important things about living life.

We can all learn a lot about ourselves from people like Ephraim K. Johnson.

I think I will make it a point to go visit him again. I have a strong feeling it will be my loss if I don't.

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Post Script 10/11/06

On Monday October 9 (5 days after writing this article) I got a call from a doctor in the Emergency Room at the hospital in Milledgeville. He asked me if I was E.K. Johnson's next of kin. Ephraim had suffered a major heart attack. To date I have made two trips over to visit him. I can see the light in his eyes but he never says a word. I talked to him as if he was hearing every word but I have no idea if he was understanding. I told him who I was and about his mom asking my dad to look after his affairs many years ago. I also said a prayer for him. I can tell you I had a lump in my throat when I left that hospital yesterday.