The Accident

In Pau, Mammy apparently was tickled at the sight of this array of four leaders who chose to enjoy their lunch on the balcony railing supports: Pappy, Bertin Farel, Elder Dane McBride (visiting from nearby Bayonne), and another missionary Dane and I both recognize but can’t now name. I presume that Mammy borrowed Pappy’s camera; until corrected, I’m labeling this as the last photo she ever took.

For an experienced Church leader, the local glitch in Pau (missionary slang called it “une histoire,” wouldn’t have posed much difficulty. But Pau had not yet accumulated the necessary experience. Pappy says it took them about twenty minutes to set matters right, and then the visitors had lunch with the local folks and set out for Bordeaux and Paris again. The Farels and Elder Wood occupied the back seat, each snugly under a seat belt. Pappy rode shotgun; Elder Romney was driving; each was duly belted in. Mammy, however, perched on the console without a belt (the Citroën was a five-seater, really) and (according to Pappy) counselled Mitt on his love life. Without warning, in the neighborhood of the village of Bazas, a Mercedes came up over a hill on the wrong side of the road and front-ended them. Mammy was killed. Pappy sustained injuries to his forehead, wrist, and ribs. Mitt had a broken arm and was unconscious for a while: long enough for the police to get there and to write “Il est mort” (“He is dead”) on his passport. He (the flic) was mistaken, of course.

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