Diary Three
The years 1851 to 1852 were a time of settling in. Patty, always involved in taking care of those around her, provided more than obstetrical services; she also plunged into general health care. The women began a health council of their own, perhaps because of Brigham Young's diatribe against male doctors given in December 1851. He said, ''A doctor, if He had good sens would not wish to visit women in child birth. And if a woman had good sense she would not wish a man to doctor them on such an occasion"
Patty herself was sick more often than usual during this period. She tended to dramatize her illnesses but placed great faith in the power of the priesthood and the support of friends to heal her. And she took little or no time off from work to be sick. She continued to plant and expand her garden. She had her portrait painted and her "likeness" taken. For her, life became more normal, though for the reader, it still seems frantic and too busy. Being busy made up her life and her diary.
Gertrude Stein wrote, "A diary should be instantly in recording a telegram. Also in recording embroidery also in recording having wished to buy a basket. That is it." Impulsively, subconsciously, the diaries of Patty Sessions follow Stein's dictates.
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