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This is me...
I was born in a small Wisconsin town in the 1950's.
Both my parents worked. Mom worked in the laundry at the local hospital and dad worked at the local farmers co-op.
We lived in a two story stone house. My older sisters each had a room and my parents had a room. I slept in a crib in my parents bedroom, until I was five. (In those days, there were no beds for youths.)
We moved shortly after I attended kindergarten to a larger two story home with four bedrooms upstairs and a half bath, and two bedrooms down stairs, though they could have been used as spare room and a formal dining room.

I was a "latch key kid" from the age of 6. My two older sisters were here but I don't remember them being there. 
School was 3 blocks from my house so I walked home everyday. I was alone at home until shortly after 4 pm when my mother got home from work. But there were days when I walked to the hospital and stay with my mom until she left. That distance was about 5 blocks.

One day, I was about 6 or 7, while I was in school, I got a very bad lower stomach ache.
Our school didn't have a nurse, but we had a cot in the coat room. That's where kids laid down if they didn't feel well.
I spent most of the day there. No one bothered to call my mom or dad.
uAt the end of the school day, I left with everyone else. I walked to the hospital to meet my mom, all five blocks with this excruciating stomach ache.
I got there and mom knew something was wrong. I had a fever and was nauseated. She took me down the hall to the emergency room. Our family doctor, no pediatricians at that time or at least in our town, was working in the hospital so he came down and examined me.
I had an appendicitis. He said if I had walked another block or two, it would have burst and I would have died. The doctor ordered immediate hospital stay and surgery and that night I had surgery.

The next night, I tried calling the nurse because I had to use the bed pan. I had to go really bad and didn't want to wet the bed, because I got yelled at for doing that at home. The nurse didn't come and didn't, come so I decided to get up out of bed and go find a bathroom. (I don't remember if I had an IV or not). I found a bathroom behind the nurses station. I used it but then realized I didn't know where I was or how to get back to my room. So I sat there and waited. After about an hour, a nurse found me. I got yelled at for not waiting for help and leaving my room.