A Marine's Devotion to His Family
Among our informal local Marine Corps. community is a retired first sergeant who I have had the pleasure to know for some time.
About eight years ago, his wife suffered a massive stroke which left her blind and completely immobile. Her doctors offered little hope of improvement. Then the Top went to work. He massaged her unresponsive limbs for hours on end to improve circulation and muscle tone. With his urging, therapists placed her in a frame which would enable her to simulate the motions of walking. After months of this, he reversed an old rapelling rig so that the handle was in the middle of her back, where he could grasp it and steady her and she actually began to walk again. At that point he was able to take her home where his wife passed through stages of both recurring blindness and deafness. She had to be taught to speak again and suffered from vertigo, but improvement continued each month. When she was strong enough, he took her to Wal-Mart several times a week and had her push a shopping cart with a bag of dog food to build her strength. After eight years, she's back among her family and friends. She may walk a little slower than the rest of us, but she enjoys every day.
His observation on her situation? Well, I raised four kids and I could do it again.
