Polio: An Ending, A Beginning

Happy little girl, standing up on the swing, life is just about to unfurl
Escaping from your crib, got a big girl bed, proud now, enough said
Happy little girl, standing up on the swing, life is just about to unfurl
Hula hooping, riding a trike, playing with all the dolls that you like
Happy little girl, standing up on the swing, life is just about to unfurl

Lying down, both arms raised, both hands framed by the window fan
Sitting up, no arms raised, no hands framed by the window fan
Lying down, both arms raised, both hands framed by the window fan
Sitting up, no arms raised, no hands framed by the window fan
Lying down, no arms raised. My arms won't raise! My arms won't raise!!

Mother! I can't raise my arms! Mother! What's going on?
Screaming, tears streaming! Someone help me, fix me please!
Mother! I can't raise my arms! Mother! What's going on?
Sobbing, frustrated, more pleading, more terrifying fears!
Mother! I can't raise my arms! Mother! What's going on?

Tears streaming, terrified I'm screaming!
Strapped to a gurney, painfully tight, driving off into the night
Tears streaming, terrified I'm screaming!
Where are they taking me? Who are these people? I want my family!
Tears still streaming, terrified but I've stopped screaming

No longer strapped down, I struggle to sit up and look around.
Where are mother and daddy? Why am I in a crib? I want my bed!
No longer strapped down, I struggle to sit up and look around.
The girl in the crib across from me seems chatty and friendly
No longer strapped down, I struggled to sit up, then laid down

Decades have passed in a hurry, memories are now hazy and blurry
My pinky finger starting to move, standing up, dizzy, need to improve
Decades have passed in a hurry, memories are now hazy and blurry
Me opening my crib bars, climbing out, falling then seeing stars!
Decades have passed in a hurry, memories are now hazy and blurry

Decades have passed in a hurry, memories are now hazy and blurry
Regaining strength and able to stand, everything healing but my arm and hand
Decades have passed in a hurry, memories are now hazy and blurry
Electric shock therapy for my arm, painful, did no good just harm
Decades have passed in a hurry, memories are now hazy and blurry

When in the ward time passed so slowly, memories of it are now so blurry
I don't remember birthday number four but Halloween I remember a little more
When in the ward time passed so slowly, memories of it are now so blurry
I threw a mask back and forth with a friend, I didn't know his life would soon end
When in the ward time passed so slowly, memories of it are now so blurry

I had polio, very deadly, and very scary
No one told me that I could die, it was not being home, made me cry
I had polio, very deadly, and very scary
Many kids on the ward passed away, kids I played with, gone home to stay
I had polio, very deadly, and very scary

Decades are long past, I'm still impulsive, but the body's not so fast
A lifetime spent proving my one handed abilities, my normalcy, my stability
Decades are long past, I'm still impulsive, but the body's not so fast
I never knew that some friends had died, and so for them I never cried
Decades are long past, I'm still impulsive, but the body's not so fast

The point of all this is to say, I faced death but I didn't let it get in my way
I wasn't aware of death as a child, thoughts of death never cramped my style
When my malignant melanoma was cut out, I knew it was gone, I had no doubts
My life could have been over, gone in a blink, now I thoroughly enjoy God winks.
I'm here to spread God's love as long as I can, life in heaven is just part of the plan