Grandmother was an extraordinary woman. She endured many hardships through her life but none as daunting as her lifelong battle with Polio. It was part of the depression years and her young adulthood, filling every corner of her life until the day she died.
Madeline Gallo was born in 1907 with this dreaded disease, and there was never a time when she did not have to wear heavy steel braces on her legs that went from the bottom of her feet to the top of her thighs. They were as much a part of her wardrobe as her housedresses. Straps and buckles at three points were main stays for this cumbersome part of her daily wardrobe. Shoes were not optional. She had one choice, the black institutional shoes that attached to the brace with a metal bar. As a result, her oldest dream and her heart’s desire was to someday wear a pair of high-heeled shoes. She knew that was probably an unrealistic dream and a frivolous thought but it did not keep her from having this wish in spite of a lifelong battle with Polio.
The braces had to be worn on both legs, but her left leg was undersized and without feeling. Therefore, the only way she could walk was with the assistance and encumbrance of braces.
It was during the Depression, at the age of twenty-five, when grandmother went on a family road trip to Washington DC with her mother, her brother and young daughter. She knew that President Franklin D. Roosevelt also had Polio and she had the greatest respect for this man who dealt with the same handicap and managed the presidency of this country in spite of it. She said, “It was he who gave me the courage to go on when things got really tough”.
When she and her family reached the White House, she fearlessly asked one of the officials on staff if a personal visit with the President was possible. She hoped that having the same disease as he did would make him more receptive to her request.
