Robert C. Huse

Getting There: Growing Up with Polio in the 30's Robert C. Huse

His legs were paralyzed; he could barely walk with the aid of hip length braces and crutches. He hadn't learned to climb stairs, yet, and hard times prevented them from having a family car. But against all the odds, Robert and his mother worked it out. Growing up between two World Wars in the midst of a depression, Robert Huse fought a very private, little war of his own against the great crippler known in those days as Infantile Paralysis. At the age of eight, Robert entered the third grade. His mother pushed him to school in his wheelchair. Mr. Hunt, the school janitor, carried him into the building, and up to the second floor. It's all done with such loving fun, the reader is allowed to share in Robert's little secret of how his admiring schoolmates even paid for the privilege of carrying his crutches up the stairs. As told by the author, this is a book about Getting There, and how a devoted mother and a caring, sharing family and a good friend helped Robert 'get' to school, 'get' to his first date, 'get' to his first job - in other words, get a life. The stories in this book will fill you with anger and joy, tears and laughter, and it will change forever the way you feel about the word handicapped.