The Third Step

"It was just another average spring day in 1936 when my mother, just 8 years old, started bounding up the stairs at her home like she had done a hundred times before. She hit the third stair and suddenly couldn't go any further. Her legs wouldn't move. Polio had struck again. Her world would never be the same. In spite of all the difficulties that followed, neither the iron braces and crutches, numerous surgeries nor today being confined to a power chair, could stop my mother from doing whatever she set her mind to. She graduated high school, married, raised three children, learned to drive, and continues with a full and happy life, giving of herself to everyone she meets. I was blessed with extraordinary parents. While polio is a big part of her life, this story is about so much more than a disease. It is a story of an amazing over comer, who, in spite of all the difficulties, continues to give so much of herself to others, all while maintaining a sense of joy. She is an inspiration to everyone she meets. The third step of a staircase marked a change in her physical world one day long ago, but not a change in her heart." - Scott Haugh