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On the morning of March 18, 1993, Ed lay in bed till around 9
o’clock. He paid no attention to Katie or the children as he
made his way out the front door, and was unaware that Amish families
were en route from Ontario, Eastern Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York.
Noah Stutzman, the headman of the mill, was marrying a local Amish
woman later in the day, and Katie had decided not to share the
information with her husband due to his mental situation.
Ed had a lot on his mind, and decided to visit his father to see if
he could help him make sense out of it. Ed didn’t knock as he
reached the front door and walked right in his father’s house.
Ed pulled up a chair as his dad walked in the room and exclaimed,
“Katie’s trying to poison me!”
“Everybody loves you Ed.” His father replied.
“Even God hates me! It’s my chemicals; they are out of
balance,” Ed blurted.
Ed’s father was not sure how to respond, and paused momentarily
before speaking, “The best thing is to ask God to forgive you,
Ed.”
“God won’t because I am possessed by the devil. I can
hear the devil’s voice, a woman’s voice, not God’s…I don’t
hear God!”
“You will if you listen for it.” Ed’s father replied.
“I am listening, but all I hear is the devil!” Ed shouted
before leaving.
Upon his arrival back home, Katie informed Ed that an English man
was on his way over to take them to see Doc Terrell. To her
relief, Ed agreed and they were soon on their way.
Ed was beginning to loathe Doc Terrell’s techniques and made no
effort to hide it as he walked into the examination room.
“If you can’t cure me, just say so.” Ed blurted out as the
doctor entered the room.
“I’m giving you liver pills,” Terrell replied. “Take
the pills.”
“I don’t want liver pills…give me something stronger for my
headaches. I can’t go on like this.”
“Drugs are not the answer,” Terrell replied in an impolite
tone. “No drugs!”
With that said, Terrell massaged Ed’s scalp and ushered him out
the door with a bottle of liver pills.
Katie had already planned out the rest of the day; she would take
turns with Ed’s brothers, babysitting Ed off and on throughout the
day, so that everyone would have a chance to attend the wedding and
reception. Everyone, except Ed, had agreed on the plan.
They decided that he wasn’t going to be told until the very last
minute.
Ed’s brother Danny had been watching the children while Katie and
Ed visited Doc Terrell. As their English driver pulled into
Ed’s brother’s driveway, Katie invited him and his girlfriend
inside for lunch. As everyone sat down at the dinner table, no
one paid any attention to Ed. Nonetheless, as everyone began
talking about the wedding, they were suddenly reminded of his
presence.
“I’m coming with you tonight.” Ed blurted out.
“You can’t go, you’re too sick.” Katie replied.
“I have to,” Ed said.
“Why?” Katie asked.
“You don’t even like these things.”
“It’s the only way I can be saved.”
Holding her position, Katie said, “No, we’ve talked about this
and you are not going…you need your sleep.”
“I know who you are,” Ed said. “You are the devil.”
Silence took over the room and no one spoke for a few minutes.
Finally Ed broke the silence; “There goes the moon—right into the
sea.” Ed’s English neighbors were dumb-struck by his
erratic behavior and decided to leave.
As their English friends parted, Danny hitched up his wagon, and
took everyone back to Ed’s house. Shortly after arriving back
home, Ed decided he wanted to go to bed and announced, “I don’t
want to hurt anybody. I love everybody.” Ed then
made his way upstairs and went to bed.
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