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From August 30 through September 23,
newlyweds, Alison Spiker Morris and Grant Morris, lived and commuted
from the Spiker Family Farm in Ritchie County to their rural medical
rotation assignment in Sistersville (Tyler County), WV. Alison is
the daughter of Mike and Marty Spiker, the granddaughter of Bradford
and Alice and great-granddaughter of Jacob and Gay Spiker, the
original “Spiker Farm” family.
Ali and Grant are in their third year of medical studies at West
Virginia University School of Medicine and will be based in
Charleston during their third and fourth years. In fact, they are
living with Alison’s grandmother (Marty’s mother), Nancy Street, in
Kanawha City directly behind Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC)
Memorial Division. As part of their medical education they work in
different areas of medicine. Rural medicine is one of the
components of their medical education.
Ali and Grant were assigned to work with Drs. Gary and Amanda
Nichols in Sistersville. They learned much about the special needs
and concerns of rural West Virginia patients. From the
heart-wrenching Emergency Room case of a little girl with severe
facial lacerations from a dog attack to addicts trying to con
prescriptions for manufactured “pain symptoms”, they experienced
quite a slice of life in the acute care medical trenches. They
worked not only in a private practice office of a general
practitioner but also in the ER of the local hospital.
Rather than stay in or near Sistersville, they elected to stay at
the ”Spiker Farm” and experience a little of what their ancestors
must have experienced by living “out in the country.” This included
watching the fog roll up the Middle Fork Creek in front of the
house, viewing the deer and other wild animals, the cool mornings,
the warm, sunny evenings, and the extreme quiet broken only by the
birds and an occasional overhead airplane, or car passing by. The
house has all the modern comforts including electric, “free” gas and
satellite TV, but it was not impossible to imagine the first cabin
and other home built at the same site which did not have these
comforts. The early settlers of the Spiker Farm site (the Zinns)
did not have these. Jacob, Gay, Bradford, and his siblings did not
have these either until the early 1940’s.
(continued at right)
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(continued from left)
(Photo by Sarah
Spiker-Smith)
The commute from the farm to Sistersville was one hour each
direction every day on single lane, curvy roads and it definitely
took its toll on the young doctors–in-training. One memorable night
they were too exhausted to deal with cooking in the farm kitchen so
they stopped for dinner at the “White Tail Café” in Pullman, WV.
After ordering and consuming the delicious home-style food they took
their bill to the counter where they proceeded to try to pay with
“plastic” but were kindly informed that the establishment did not
take credit cards. No problem! Ali deftly whipped out her debit
card all smiles. “We don’t take debit cards either” was the
exasperated response. Knowing they had NO CASH OR CHECKS Ali played
the only card she had and said, “You can trust us to go get the
money and bring it back. My uncle is Dr. Mark Spiker, the dentist in
Pennsboro!” Mark’s popularity (notoriety?) saved the day.
Ali and Grant hosted some special visitors, including JoAnne and
Mark King, friends from their mission trips to Guatemala who made a
road trip in from Nashville, TN. Four-wheeling, fishing, walks,
bike rides, a cookout with Mike and Marty, and good times around a
campfire all made for a very special visit.
Back in Charleston now, their stay at the Spiker Farm concluded, Ali
and Grant feel relieved to say goodbye to the daily caffeine-fueled
commute but they will miss relaxing on the porch, the morning mist
rising off the meadows, the deep quiet of the night and their new
friends, the Nichols family of Sistersville. They recommend the stay
to anyone as long as you carry a little “cash” in your pocket. |
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