Just Me - AmeliaJake, Kendallville, N. Riley House, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

Frederick Small

January 30, 2016 AmeliaJake

Who is Fredrick Small? A man who murdered his wife and was hanged for the crime a century ago. I know this because I fell into a “click a connecting link” pattern and wound up at a news page, which I am citing here, but which may not be available forever because it is a news page. I’m certain that a Google search will bring up an account of the story if anyone stumbles on this post in the future and the link does not work.

A lot of men murder their wives and have done so for eons; they probably will continue to do so and I imagine there is some sort of parity with what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The reason the Frederick Small story caused me to sigh is that while justice may be blind, the hand of fate can reach out and get you and laugh in your face.

Fredrick was a weasel of a man, according to the news account, and ran a few scams as well as perhaps losing money in honest ventures. It was 1916 and without TV, no one would be yelling “CSI, CSI, CSI!” when his wife was killed in a fire while he was far off in a theater.

He was clever; he put together a time bomb for igniting the fire, murdered his wife, left her on the bed and went off to his alibi. He wanted everything to burn up; it almost did. However, as the fire progressed, the bedroom floor collapsed, dumping his wife into the basement where her head fell into a pool of water. The water was there because he did not want to pay to waterproof the basement. Just a small pool, but her head wasn’t that large and so people found a lot of ashes and a head – with a bullet hole in it and signs of beating and strangulation.

Tales of marital discord added to situation and the police of the day found evidence of a bomb, such as a clock and gasoline, etc.

The town in which this happened was named Occipee. I can just see someone decided since he was caught out, the town name presaged the head in the pool by a bit of punning: O see me pee.

Yes, I’m sorry; dreadful pun. Awful. You aren’t going to hang me, are you?

***Jody Lynn Vance: 1985-2011***

Jody was born at sunrise on a bright, sunny, cold, snowy Groundhog’s Day and from Day One she was a gift to everyone around her. Her infectious laugh and rambunctious spirit made her the center of attention where ever she happened to be.

She and her Dad would watch Sesame Street and sing at the top of our voices (and quite out of key) all of the songs. She enjoyed having Mom fix her hair so it was fancy and just right.

As a toddler she had quite an impressive vocabulary and often had a lot to say. One time Dad was headed out the door to go to work and she pointed her finger and said, “No. No. No. Don’t go anywhere!“

Jody was very seldom crabby, always happy and she wasted no time in spreading that joy to everyone around her. Jody’s favorite place was to be perched on the lap of Mom or Dad or playing with her toys spread out all over the floor. Jody was always affectionate, wanting hugs and “moochies” as she called smooches on the cheek.

At around two, Jody’s illness began to attack her. It took a beautiful, innocent child and put her through untold pain and suffering,

I know that through all of that she was not afraid. She had the heart and spirit of lion. She never gave up; time after countless time, she would open her eyes and there would come that smile. Jody lost her speech, but never was at a loss for words. She could say more with a look or a half smile than most people do yakking all day long.

After numerous doctor, hospital, and specialist visits, we were given the news of her illness. I remember that moment frozen in time … it was as if the entire world stopped. It was in that brief moment we both knew that we must make the very most of the time we had remaining together and not dwell on the despair of all of the things that would never be.

Jody was not expected to live more than three or so - but she had too many things to do and stories to tell, so she cruised by that birthday and over two more decades of birthdays, Christmases and millions of smiles and hugs. Jody was well-liked by other kids; once when she was being wheeled into her classroom at Handicare, one of the children yelled, “Hey everybody, Jody’s here” and all the kids cheered.

Two of the biggest joys in her life were her two little brothers, Joey and Sammy. She would just beam with joy when they would sit next to her and when they began to get older she’d love to listen to them running through the house and playing together. The two of them would start laughing and Jody would laugh right along with them. She would listen intently to everything they did and they would include her as often as they could. The three of them loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and The Three Stooges.

Joe and Sam did without a lot of things that other kids had, did and took for granted … and they never once complained or were resentful of the way things were. That shows a special kind of love and a special kind of family.

As the years went by and the boys grew up into strong and healthy, Jody’s health slowly and steadily declined. She would have long stretches where she was fairly stable and then would become so very ill.

Many times we were sure the end was near and then she would open those sparkling blue eyes and stretch just like nothing had happened at all.

Once she was in the hospital with her usual bout of pneumonia and lapsed into a coma; this went on for 8 days. One Dr. came in, examined her and just shook his head. Later that night Jody’s eyes popped open and she was refreshed from her cat- nap.

People over the years have commented, ”I don’t know how you do it. ”This always struck me as odd. My thoughts would always be: How could you even think of turning your back on someone who needs you that much?

It was always our promise to Jody that she would always live at home with her family and I think she found comfort in knowing that.

But, no one person can take the credit for caring for this wonderful young woman. It has taken an army of doctors, nurses, teachers, aides, pharmacists, friends, and family over the years to maintain Jody at home, and we could never begin to thank you enough.

Jody always kept her head held high and never seemed to be afraid; she has truly been my inspiration on many occasions. When things were gloomy and seemed hopeless, just one smile and a hug was all I needed to go on. Jody will always be my hero. I love her and will treasure the time we had together.

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