Page 194 - Musings 2022

His mother notices it and thinks now is the time to tell Marcus what

his parents had been hiding from him.]

Jeanne (says in a serious voice): Son, there’s something that your dad and I have never shared
with you before. Your father has an incurable disease called Polio.

Do you know what Polio is?

Marcus (says quickly after wiping his tears): No. Why didn’t you ever tell me about it? Is dad

still hurting because of the disease? How and when did he catch the disease?

Jeanne: That’s a lot of questions, son; and I can understand that you are confused. When your

father was a toddler, your grandfather took him to get the Polio vaccine but the doctor used an
infected needle which gave your dad a very high fever and infected his right leg. Somehow, he

fought the fever and survived that sensitive condition but the Polio fever made his right leg
very weak. So now, his left leg hurts at night as the left leg carries his whole body weight

because the right leg is too weak to handle that much weight.

[Marcus instantly feels a new wave of respect for his father who never

mentions his pain and yet he keeps working so hard to provide for the

family. He realises how strong of a man his father is.]0

Marcus: I had no idea that dad had been suffering all this time. He never mentions what he is

going through and always wears a smile in front of me. But mom, grandmother told me that
dad was the captain of his school’s cricket team. How is that possible?

Marcus: Yes son, your dad is a very strong and brave man. A man you should aspire to be like.
And yes, he was indeed the captain of his school’s cricket team. From the time he got Polio till

the time when he was of your age, he used to wear leg callipers on his weak right leg. A leg

calliper is a support giving instrument that makes walking easier for the polio patients. Your
dad started feeling embarrassed to continue wearing such a big leg calliper to school when he

entered his early teen years. He taught himself how to walk without the leg calliper’s support.
Later on, he joined the school’s cricket team as a wicketkeeper to avoid a lot of running. That’s

how he found a way to grow and get involved like a normal student without giving excuses
about his condition.

Marcus: Mom, I will become as great as him when I grow up. I will never give excuses for
things I have no control over. But why didn’t you share all this with me before?

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