Hi Julie
Thank you so much for sharing this part of your life. What an
interesting story and I love the way you write. I belive this is
the frist time I have heard of a mother and daughter having Polio
and at different times. In talking with you in Chat I know you are
anything but bitter. You are positve and a Survivor that has so
much to share with others. Thank you very much for sharing this I
really enjoyed it.
Marilyn


> Julie Lahr <jauntyjulie@...> wrote:
>
> POLIO
> August 15, 1929
>
> On August 15, each year, you did not speak to my mother, as this
was
> a day she loathed and would withdraw to her room. This was the day
> that had ruined her plans of college and a life with choices for
> happiness. This was the day she relinquished the ability to run
with
> the wind, to swim with her friends, to come and go when ever and
> where ever she pleased. This was the day that made my mother
bitter
> on life.
>
> The story, that I was told, was she was packing for her Freshman
year
> at the University of Connecticut. She and her friends had a picnic
> down at the river the day before. There was lots of food, some
> beverage, swimming, and good camaraderie, as each one there was
about
> to embark on their life's journey. This is why she thought it was
> the picnic that made her feel ill that night. In the early hours
she
> woke her uncle, as she had a horrible headache. The pain was
severe
> and she was scared. Her uncle was a doctor, and she had been
living
> with him and his sister for several years. August 15th was the day
> she was taken to the Waterbury Hospital and they diagnosed her as
> having polio. That was where she stayed for many months. Most of
the
> time there consisted of routine care. Since she could not move her
> arms, a priest made it a point to sit by her bed every noon and
feed
> her, her uncle came every evening. Gradually she learned to move
> her arm to her mouth and could take a bite if someone put the food
on
> the spoon for her. She told of the Sister Kenny treatments that
were
> used on her legs with warm towels, peanut oil and massage. Then,
> after several months, came the long leg braces and crutches. When
she
> returned home, the rest, therapy and time would finally allow her
to
> again be mobile and basically independent, that is as independent
as
> one can be with braces and crutches.
>
> Life progressed, nine years later she married my father. They had
> met in school and both worked on the school paper, she writing
poetry
> and my father writing the editorials. Then my arrival. The baby
> pictures and pictures of my early years never showed my mother's
> braces or crutches. "I would not allow any pictures taken of me
> unless someone put those crutches out of sight." She had given up
> wearing the braces, before my birth.
>
> In her later years she became an occupational therapist and worked
> with young people with disabilities, teaching them tasks like
> printing names on napkins and match books and simple lacing of
> leather book marks. As other tasks came into the rehab center, she
> would guide the workers on how to do them according to their
> ability. That was what she excelled at, adapting a task to be done
> in an alternative manner. This was the gift that she left me, a
gift
> that will make my years with PPS more tolerable. Though my mother
> always remained bitter from having Polio, because of her, I have
> learned that polio is just something to make one find another way
to
> do the things you want in life. "Sorry mom, in my life there is no
> time to be bitter, but thanks for the life's lesson." by Julie Lahr
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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