This is the fourth installment of my 86 year old Aunt Eleanor’s memoir. She’s had polio since she was four months old and is currently in the hospital because of a blockage in her colon. My aunt is now in the ICU because she vomited and inhaled it. I was afraid she wasn’t going to make it, but she bounced back and should be back in her room soon.
The next installment of her memoir follows.
Chapter 7
Restrictions
There weren’t a lot of restrictions put on me that I objected to. Of course I didn’t like the 8:00 P.M. bed time, summer and winter, but my mom explained that I went at such a pace during the day that I really needed a good eight or nine hours rest so I could do my thing the next day. That last sentence makes it sound as if I accepted that bedtime graciously, but that wasn’t always the case.
There were very few other restrictions in my trying new things to conquer. She didn’t object to my climbing trees, going over the back fence to visit the kid’s next door, and most anything else that I wanted to try. There was one of my sporting events where she did draw the line. I had borrowed a pair of beginner’s skates from a friend. My cousin happened to see what I was doing and squealed to my Mom. Well, being the wise person that she was, rather than telling me I couldn’t skate, she said we would wait and ask the Doctor. When we went to our next appointment she stood behind me and while shaking her head NO she asked him if he thought Eleanor should be skating. Of course that took care of that. She didn’t reveal this secret to me until I was an adult.
One might wonder where Bill got his teasing streak. My Mom had a good sense of humor also. I remember an incident when my brother was having his 15th birthday. She had made the birthday cake and frosted it, and that was our dessert for dinner that evening. Unbeknownst to any of us she had also placed a larger pan upside down over the cake and frosted it. I can distinctly remember my brother’s face when he tried to cut the first slice and couldn’t even make a dent in it. He did not know what to think or say until she lifted the top pan and there was a cake we could eat. It was fun growing up in a family that could handle fun and teasing.
Chapter 8
Surgeries
My Doctor was always brainstorming ways to improve my ability to walk. So each summer I would prepare to go to the hospital and have some type of procedure, such as a muscle transplant or a bone block to improve the position of my ankles etc. My Mother would tell me the same thing each time. “If you are good to the nurses, they will be good to you.” It worked out very well and even though I had to stay for thirty days each time, I got along fine. One summer I got out in time to go to the County Fair and of course I wanted to go on all the rides. Each time I would have to argue with the manager of the ride in order to convince him it was safe. I remember going to Moaning Caves, as an adult, and having to argue my way in there also. It seemed people thought a physically handicapped person didn’t know what they could accomplish and they weren’t willing to give them a chance to try. Insurance probably had something to do with it, but in those days people were not as “sue” conscious.
