And so, Way Back When: The Lost Anthology, continues to unfold…
This next contribution, chapter five, by the late Norene Seinkbeil was written when she first began to experience her own physical changes due to post-polio syndrome. So many of us felt her desperate sense of fear and a bewildering resurgence of grief when we learned there was no cure for what was to come–only management strategies. But, like Norene, most of us eventually figured out how to re-frame our priorities and perspectives on life–to move forward with optimism, grace and a renewed sense of purpose.
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Post-polio syndrome is a new condition that affects the survivors of polio decades after the acute illness of poliomyelitis. The major symptoms are pain, fatigue and weakness. New weakness is considered the hallmark of post-polio syndrome. Less commonly, survivors may have new sleep/breathing/swallowing problems and some survivors may also experience muscle atrophy or muscle wasting.
–Joan L. Headley, M.S.
For more information on post-polio syndrome click here: 
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It’s How You Feel Within
–by Norene Senkbeil, polio survivor, (1934-2010)
We hide our fears,
Our weakness we somehow muster under
Go on and on and then…
The rumbles begin like thunder.
At first it’s just a little tired
And vitamins will help.
Some exercise, a little more sleep
Just get a hold of yourself!
Then comes the time when there’s no push left,
“I can’t do that anymore”
And your family says “Come on, come on,
You’ve never been a quitter before.”
So you struggle up and say
“Yes that’s true.
I’ve been through so much already
I can beat this too!”
And then one day
That remembered day
You knew.
The rounds of doctors start,
And prayers flow from the heart.
Please Father God, not this again
This battle I must win!
But prayers go unanswered, weakness sets in
And pain, and most of all Fear.
Where will it end for me, Lord?
How will I be next year?
Take this my child and serve me well
Even if it’s just your example
People will know by your actions and faith
That my care is always ample.
But what can I do Lord, to further Your Kingdom?
Locked in this body, that hurts when it moves
These legs with unsteady gait.
Remember my child, Milton wrote long ago–
“They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Acceptance and peace begin anew.
Your heart can sing again.
There is a wonderful life for me now…
It’s how you feel within!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Norene Janet Shepard Senkbeil, 75, passed away January 1, 2010. She was born February 1, 1934 in Wheeling, WV. Norene grew up in Wheeling and attended Tridelphia High School. She married Walter Senkbeil in 1951 and they later moved to Tampa in 1960. Her love and devotion was directed toward her family and her church. Norene shared her creative gifts through poetry, painting and numerous arts and crafts.
In 1987, at the time she submitted this poem for the anthology, she wrote:
“In June 1955, at the age of 21, I contracted polio while living in Cincinnati, Ohio. I had two small children. I came down with what was referred to the as all three types. High and low spinal, and bulbar. Was in an iron lung, in a coma, and not expected to live. Then as now, the power of prayer prevailed and I gained strength. Was the first gentile woman admitted to the Jewish hospital, called Sheltering Oaks, for therapy. I gradually grew stronger, walked again and had three more children. Although many problems existed I managed to do just about as much as most moms did. Others in this situation know the struggle and how ‘we’ must try harder.”
The Search for Anthology Authors Continues…
Almost 30 years ago (1987), friends, Barbara Pike, Charlene Bozarth, and I sent out a nationwide request to polio survivors who might want to have their writings published in an anthology. Manuscripts came in, but life took over, and we were never able to create and publish the collection, as we had hoped. When I lost track of Barbara in Ohio, and Charlene, who left Michigan for New Mexico, I protectively stored the writings for resurrection at a later date.
Well, this year is that later date! I recently rediscovered them in my files, dusted them off, and now plan to take the liberty of publishing them by way of this blog. Some are essays. Some are poems. They are heartfelt, intimate and describe living with polio in earlier times. We can still resonate with their feelings and messages.
Here is a list of the missing anthology authors whom I would like to contact for permission to publish their work, now, so many years later. Since the publishing of chapter one, we have found five authors, but have many yet to find.
If you are one, or know of one, please contact me at sunnyrollerblog@gmail.com.
Thank you!
Sunny
Floy Schoenfelder
Lee Whipple
William Wild
Agnes Fennewald
Charlotte Snitzer
Ann Bradley
Toni Keffeler
Sofia Baltodano
Bruce Berman
Roberta Dillion Williams
Becky Lee Vance
Jean Hamm
Ann Goodhall
Ginger Sage
Shirley Hile Powell
Elizabeth Reeves
Doris Vanden Boogard
Donna L. Mattinson
Marie Galda
Alan M. Oberdick
Emma Blosser Hartzler
R. N. Hackney
Robert C. Huse
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