“Who puts the coffee on for two.

Who makes me laugh when I am blue.

No matter what I have to do–

My friend, there’s always time for you.”

Hi,

Welcome!  Do come in. Have a seat. I know that we can learn great things from each other.  Do you prefer coffee or tea?  Let’s chat. So cozy. So warmhearted. So important. We will talk openly and listen deeply.  Again, welcome!

May I introduce myself? I am a woman who has been living with polio for 63 years now–since 1952. Over the decades so many polio survivors, helping professionals, and all kinds of great people have meandered in and out of my life. Some have stayed; some just stopped by, but they, like you, have had important roles to play and insights to share.

When I was 33 I got the late effects of polio and ended up at the University of Michigan Post-Polio Clinic. There I met my doctor, Frederick Maynard, MD, whom I later teamed up with to start the Post-Polio Research and Training Program. Since that time in the mid-1980s, I have traveled across the country and around the world teaching and learning about polio. We saw children who had polio in India crawling on the streets, kids in the state of Georgia who got polio from the vaccine, adults in Europe searching for physicians who could effectively treat them and polio survivors  in New Zealand joining support groups to help each other out. And that’s just for starters…

What I have learned over the years is that we have suffered, struggled and been disabled by polio. But that uninvited turmoil has, and still is, pressing us to strengthen ourselves in new ways–mind, body and spirit. Looking back, we know it’s true–a growing number of us have consciously turned living well with polio into, not just a goal, but a creative art form. We have not only been the adroit composers of our unique personal adaptations, attitudes, and alliances, we have become the masterpieces themselves. And we flourish. Here’s to feeling great!

This blog is dedicated to twinkling enthusiasm when we open our eyes every morning. It is also dedicated to feeling the permeating comfort of thankfulness for the day’s blessings as we silently drift into sleep every night. Everything in between, we gotta work on. Cheers to us! We’re in this together!

And now, won’t you introduce yourself? Where are you? What brought you to this blog? What is an important topic of conversation for you?