February 3 1930-April 28 2011

Here, we celebrate the life of Clara Smale, otherwise known as "Dimpy." We tell some of her story, in photos and in words, each in our own way, and we invite you to add anything if you'd like to; (you should be able to do that directly, but if not, just send your posting to smale@msu.edu).

Melissa

When professor steve small hired me as their helper,he told me that my main job is to look after his wife clara,who is suffering from sickness and needs care and help as much as possible.He gave me ideas and information on what she is going through especially her PROTEIN MALABSORPTION.Its a new thing for me because i haven't heard that kind of sickness before.During the first few weeks i stayed with them,she still can walk around the house,take a bath herself and even stays with me in the kitchen sometimes while i cook dinner,she can even put dry dishes in the sink from the dining table and make her own coffee.

She was hospitalized couple of times the next weeks and goes to see doctor for check ups,the last was at Caritas medical centre and from then on she stayed in bed after we took her home.Her health declined gradually and had some bedsores on her back.Its a good thing a health worker comes every other day to check her wound condition and taught me how to clean and put dressing on it.Taking care of clara is not a hard job for me because she is very nice and she never fails to thank me even for the smallest thing i did for her.She will always be remembered and will always be in my heart even though she may be physically gone but i know she will always be around.