family history: Mariam Ann Turpin... married to Edward Richard Olson

My dad called me yesterday and told me about his grandma Ellis' sister Mariam Ann Turpin Olson. There is a short paragraph in my great grandma Nettie Mae Turpin Ellis' biography about her sister Mariam. I have no memory of my great grandma Nettie Mae who died in 1987. I wish I did. Before I became a Maeser I wanted to name my daughter Mae, after her. If I have a daughter we will see. I still think Mae Maeser is a silly name, but we will see. This is what was written about Mariam in g-grandma Nettie Mae's autobiography.

"Mariam died young from leukemia when she was only 34. She and Dick Olson had one son, Leo Richard. Leo joined the air corp. during the War and his father Dick was working at an ammunition plant, when he fell off a high platform and was killed. When Leo came home from the war, Glenn and I were his family until he married Betty Jo."

Mariam was born June 26, 1903 in Big Cottonwood, Utah and died October 21, 1937. It wasn't until the 1940s that scientists started experimenting with mustard gas... from my quick wikipedia scan, it seems that mustard gas first used in WWI was the beginning of what would eventually lead to chemotherapy. 

I looked up Mariam on familysearch.org. Family search has her cause of death listed as Subacute Bacterial Endacarditis... It also says that the "Reason This Information Is Correct She also had rheumatic heart disease". So... I am not quit sure what she died of. I know she could not have been undergoing chemo in any way... it didn't exist yet. It seems that Subacute Bacterial Endacarditis can cause the blood to go septic. The bacteria is commonly found in the mouth. This is what wikipedia says, 

"It is usually caused by a form of streptococci viridans bacteria that normally live in the mouth and throat (Streptococcus mutans, mitis, sanguis or milleri). Other strains of streptococci (bovis and equines) can also cause subacute endocarditis, usually in patients who have a form of gastrointestinal cancer. Additional causes are Enterococci (urinary tract infections) and coagulase negative staphylococci such as Staphylococcus epidermidis (skin)."

My guess is that she had Leukemia, and because her immune system was weakened she contracted Subacute Bacterial Endacarditis. When I was going through chemo last fall I got a similar blood infection. If I could pinpoint when I felt the sickest, it was when I had that infection. 

Why all of this info?  

After my dad read the short paragraph about Mariam's death he spent the day in the LDS temple with my mom. He felt the distinct impression that throughout my sickness, that Mariam was one of the guardian angles that stayed with me... because she knew what I was going through. 

I am so grateful for the research that has been done, and the progress that has been made in treating cancer. Chemo stinks, but at least I am here and I get to raise little N. I am also glad my great grandma Nettie Mae and great grandpa Glenn looked after Mariam's boy Leo, who lost his mother when he was only 1 years old. 

I am also grateful for all of the angels, living and deceased that helped me out last year. 

p.s. Dad, if you read this, I don't think Mariam was a red head. Nettie Mae was a ginger, and so was her younger sister Thelma Hortence... and a few brothers, but Mariam wasn't mentioned as being red. 

p.s.s. If anyone has more information on Mariam, I'd love to learn more about her.