She was born without legs in a time when such people were institutionalized or worse, but she avoided that fate. They said she’d never walk; instead, she soared.
A fictional account of a girl born over a century ago who, with love and support from her family and friends, defies a culture where disability is considered shameful and disabled people are marginalized, openly discriminated against, and even treated as less than human.
Part 5 includes the following chapters:
Chapter 11 – Emulating Millie, part 2
Chapter 11 – Emulating Millie, part 2
Stan and Fred did ask out and begin dating Alice and Fannie, respectively. They went on various combinations of regular dates, double dates with each other, and double dates with Dick and Millie over the course of a few months. Meanwhile, Dick, Stan, and Fred continued to meet at least weekly to share a few beers and discuss life, and of course, the three Duncan sisters were a regular topic of discussion.
One day Dick and Millie were talking and the subject of her sisters and their dates came up. “I have a good feeling about Alice and Stan,” Millie remarked. “He’s really down to earth, and Alice just adores him. I think she kind of wishes he had a job, though. I know he gets full disability pay from the Marine Corps, but there’s something about a man having a purpose in life that makes him more attractive.”
“Yeah, Stan is really keen on Alice, too,” replied Dick. “Believe me, he’d like to have a job, but as you’re well aware, most employers simply won’t even consider hiring a crippled person. What about if he went to college instead?”
“I don’t think that would even be possible,” Millie responded. “He might not have any trouble getting accepted, especially if his disability didn’t come up, but I don’t think he’d be physically able to get to his classes. From what I understand, most college buildings are multiple stories and don’t have elevators.”
“Then I think he’d have to either have someone he knows give him a job, or else he’ll have to go into business for himself,” said Dick. “Is there anything a man in a wheelchair could do at your father’s company?”
“I don’t know, but I could certainly ask him. What about at your father’s insurance agency?”
“We’re fully staffed right now, and we don’t have any room to expand. Besides, he’d have to get licensed to sell the various lines of insurance, and that’s not an easy process, believe me.”
“What are your thoughts about Fannie and Fred?” Dick asked.
“I’m not so sure about them,” Millie admitted. “Fannie likes that he’s sophisticated and classy, but she doesn’t like his big ego. You’d think he’d’ve taken that down a notch or two after becoming paralyzed.”
“Who knows? Maybe he already did,” Dick suggested.
“Then he must’ve been insufferable before that happened,” observed Millie.
“Yeah, he does have a bit of an ego,” Dick agreed. “I just chalked that up to him being an officer and Stan and I being enlisted. But if Fannie’s seeing it, too, I suppose there’s more to it than that.”
“Fannie tells me he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His family is quite wealthy, and he’s used to nothing but the best and always getting his way. That’d be fine if she were a gold digger, but she’s not. She’d rather be happy than rich.”
“Do you think I should say something to him?” Dick asked.
“I wouldn’t, unless Fannie asks you to or Fred asks what Fannie thinks of him,” Millie replied.
Millie spoke to her father about finding a job for Stan at the metal fabrication company. She explained that he didn’t really need the money but he did need something productive to do with his time. John thought about what he could have Stan do from a wheelchair. By now, orders for wheelchair frames had slowed down and he expected that trend to continue, so he didn’t need anyone on the factory floor, but he didn’t think a wheelchair-bound man would be suitable for such a job anyway.
He did need to have his salesmen beat the bushes to drum up some new business. With the ongoing pent-up demand for consumer products, especially those made of metal or containing metal components, certainly it wouldn’t be hard to find. He couldn’t ask Stan to join his regular sales force, as those positions involved lots of travel, and that would be extremely difficult and frustrating for someone in a wheelchair.
It did occur to John, however, that Stan could be trained to be an inside salesman. An inside salesman didn’t travel, but rather remained in the office to answer incoming sales inquiries, support and assist the salesmen on the road as needed, and also make outgoing sales calls by telephone. When his salesmen were all out in the field, there was no one in the office to perform those functions, and they were generally neglected until a salesman returned to the office, potentially resulting in lost business.
John met with his salesmen and explained what he had in mind. Stan would be paid a modest salary, the standard commission on any deals he completed on his own, and a small part of their commissions on any of their deals he contributed to in any significant way. No one had any serious objections, and some of them actually thought Stan’s ongoing presence in the office would enable them to do their own jobs more effectively.
So John next approached Stan about coming to work for him, and explained what he had in mind. Stan was very enthused about the opportunity and immediately accepted the job based on the terms John laid out. The following Monday, Stan started his new job and began training to be an inside salesman.
Taking a personal interest in Stan, John asked those training him to keep him apprised of Stan’s progress and their impressions of him. Without exception, the reports came back highly favorable. Stan was an eager and fast learner and had an outgoing, friendly personality ideal for someone in sales. Stan himself also received lots of favorable comments from his trainers, so he had a good feeling about this job. Emboldened by that, Stan asked Alice to be his steady girl, and she agreed without hesitation.
However, Stan’s and Alice’s relationship upgrade only highlighted the struggles Fred and Fannie were having. Two weeks after Stan and Alice became a couple, Fred asked Fannie the same question even though their relationship was nowhere near as solid. He was counting on her to be impressed with his family’s money as well as not wanting to be outdone by her little sister.
But to his shock, Fannie turned down Fred’s request to go steady. This caused his ego to get the better of him. He’d never been rejected by a girl before. They’d always agreed to go steady with him when he asked and he was always the one to break up.
“‘No’?” he asked her, incredulous. “You have no idea what you just turned down. Lots of girls would kill to have me ask them that. I’ll let you change your answer if you want to reconsider.”
Fannie was unimpressed. “Well, I’m not lots of girls, I know exactly what I just turned down, and my answer remains ‘no’,” she replied. “I turned down a relationship that would be doomed from the start with a man who thinks he’s God’s gift to the world in general, women in particular, and me specifically.
“I like you, Fred, but you’re too full of yourself. I’m not saying I’ll never go out with you again, or that I’d never go steady with you. What I am saying is that for you to ever have a chance with me, you’re going to have to do a lot of work learning how to be humble. Then maybe we’ll see.”
Fannie wanted to find a husband and eventually start a family, but she was by no means desperate, and she refused to settle for anyone less than Mr. Right. She could support herself on a teacher’s salary and satisfy her maternal instincts through her students if it came to that.
Both Millie and Alice felt terrible for Fannie. They felt guilty that they had great relationships with great guys and she didn’t, especially with her being older. There was nothing unattractive or undesirable about Fannie, so it just didn’t seem that life was giving her a fair shake.
Millie spoke to Dick about it. “Certainly you must know someone who’s unattached and not a cad who could ask Fannie out.”
“Not offhand,” Dick replied, “but I can ask around. Maybe someone knows someone else who’d be interested.”
However, Fannie wasn’t going to sit around and feel sorry for herself. Taking matters into her own hands, she started discreetly spreading the word at college that she was available should someone want to ask her out. Before long, and before Dick was able to find anyone for her, she had several dates lined up.
One of those dates in particular stood out in Fannie’s mind, and she turned down offers for second dates from the others in order to focus on him. His name was Bert Wilson, he was a Navy veteran, and he was studying to be a high school history teacher. Before long, Fannie and Bert were going steady, and she was happier than she’d ever been.
Dick and Stan began including Bert in some of their beer-drinking sessions, but they were careful to keep Bert and Fred from meeting each other. They’d meet Bert at a bar that they’d never been to with Fred. Dick and Stan really took a liking to Bert, even though he was a ‘squid’. But he knew the horrors of war, too; like Dick and Jack, he’d enlisted right after Pearl Harbor, and then had participated in numerous sea battles against the Japanese for the duration of the war. But, like Dick, he’d never been seriously injured.
Dick and Stan hadn’t abandoned Fred when he and Fannie had parted ways, however. For one thing, they still had a lot in common. Also, Fred had shared with them what Fannie had told him about being full of himself. He then asked them if they thought she was right, and when they exchanged a look and hesitated to respond, Fred knew the answer. To his credit, Fred insisted that they lay it out for him honestly and not try to spare his feelings.
Dick then told him, “To be perfectly honest with you, Fred, if you’d been my company commander, the men in my squad would’ve called you something like ‘Captain Prick’ behind your back. I wouldn’t’ve joined them, but I wouldn’t’ve stopped them, either. I would’ve tolerated some insubordination for the sake of morale.”
“I agree,” said Stan. “I would’ve been one of those men, too. One time I told Alice that I couldn’t decide between Fannie and her, and I ended up with her because you chose Fannie. In hindsight, telling her that wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but my point is that she was really glad it didn’t end up the other way around.”
“Boy, you guys are really piling on!” replied Fred, both grateful for and hurt by their candor. “Okay, so everyone agrees I’m a prick, and it cost me a relationship with Fannie. I’m surprised you haven’t given me the old heave-ho, too. Probably she and her sisters wish you would.”
“Nah, we’re not gonna do that,” replied Dick. “You may be a prick, but you’re our prick, Fred.”
“Thanks, I think,” replied Fred.
Meanwhile, Henry had been seeing a girl named Jean and was preparing to follow in his father’s footsteps and study engineering at his alma mater, now about to be renamed Case Institute of Technology. Henry took Jean to his senior prom and graduated high school soon after that. At the end of the summer, Henry and Jean began going steady.
Chapter 12 – Provoking Millie
It was now early fall, 1946, and the one year anniversaries of Dick’s and Millie’s first date and when they began going steady were fast approaching. Dick decided it was high time to put a ring on this girl. The past year had been the best of his life and he knew Millie was the one to be his life partner. Every indication he’d gotten from her made him confident that she felt the same way about him and their year as a steady couple.
Dick had enlisted Fannie to take one of Millie’s rings when she wasn’t wearing it and give it to him so he could have a jeweler determine what size the engagement ring would need to be. He chose a plain gold band with a solitaire diamond as big and perfect as he could afford. He also arranged to meet Millie’s father without her knowledge and asked for his approval to marry his daughter. Of course, John was more than happy to give his blessing; he’d known Dick since he was a boy and thought very highly of him, especially considering how well he treated Millie and clearly adored her, and how happy she’d been since they began courting.
Dick decided he’d reenact their second date at the fancy restaurant on the anniversary of that date. That had been the night she’d agreed to go steady with him last year, and would be the night he proposed to her this year. Millie had no reason to be suspicious when he said he wanted to take her back there for their one year anniversary; after all, it was a day to celebrate. Their night out was as magical as the original had been a year prior.
After dinner, Dick took Millie to the same place on the shore of Lake Erie that he did the previous year, where he’d asked her to go steady. After they’d sat there for several minutes admiring the view, Dick opened his car door. Millie thought this odd and asked him where he was going, but he just told her he had to take care of something and for her to stay put. She thought maybe he needed to relieve himself behind a bush or something.
Dick got out of the car, but he walked around to the passenger side and then opened her door. She just looked at him, confused, but then he got down on one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket. Millie immediately understood what was happening and was overcome with emotion. Suddenly she had a huge lump in her throat, her eyes began tearing up, and she involuntarily covered her mouth with her hand and she looked at Dick expectantly.
“Millie, this past year we’ve been a steady couple has been the best year of my life by far, because I’ve shared it all with you. I want the rest of my years to be just like this one, loving you and being loved by you. Millie, will you do me the great honor of marrying me?”
“Of course!” Millie practically shouted as she wrapped her arms around Dick and began kissing him. “I can’t wait to be married to you, Dickie!” she said as she began crying tears of joy.
“I got you a little something,” Dick said quietly, holding up the box. Millie let go of him and looked at him expectantly once again. Dick opened the box, and Millie gasped and exclaimed, “Dickie, it’s beautiful!” He took it out of the box and slipped it on her finger. “It fits perfectly!” she added with a big smile.
As the evening was coming to a close, Dick pulled into the Duncans’ driveway and stopped the car. Millie was holding her hand up, trying to catch some light from the house to reflect off the diamond. Dick chucked to himself, and then explained why. “It’s funny how things work out,” he said with a smile. “Jack had me promise to make sure you were being taken care of if anything happened to him. Now I’ll be doing it more than either of us imagined.”
Immediately, Millie shot daggers at him with her eyes. “What did you mean by that?” she asked, clearly agitated. “That all of this is just you keeping a promise? I’m just an obligation you’re fulfilling to your dead friend? All this time I thought you really loved me, Dickie! You had me hook, line, and sinker. Now I finally see what I fool I’ve been all this time! You just felt sorry for your friend’s pathetic crippled sister, that’s all!
“I don’t need anyone looking after me, especially you! I don’t need your pity!” She took off the engagement ring he’d just put on her finger a short time ago and threw it at him. “You can have your stinking ring back. Give it to a girl you really want to be with. You know; someone with legs.”
Dickie couldn’t believe how quickly things had spiraled out of control. He said to her, “No, Millie, you’ve got it all wrong,” as he instinctively tried to reach out and touch her. She recoiled away from his reach.
“Don’t touch me!” she said. “The thought of you touching me makes me want to puke!” She opened her door and reached behind the seat for her chair.
“Millie, listen to me!” Dickie pleaded. “I do love you…”
She interrupted him as she unfolded her chair and transferred herself into it. “Just shut up! I’ve listened to your lies for way too long! I’m done listening to you! I don’t want to ever see your lying face again, either! It makes me want to puke, too! Now get out of here! We’re through, Dickie! Through!”
She slammed the car door as hard as should could, and then started aggressively wheeling herself up the ramp, crying loudly as she did so, her body language clearly indicating she was quite distraught. Dick didn’t know what to do; he wanted to go after her and reason with her, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to let him.
While he waffled, Millie entered the house, turned off the porch light, and closed the window shade on the door window. Dick started his car, backed out of the driveway, and drove slowly away. What just happened? he thought to himself. How did this go from being the best day of my life to the worst in only an instant? What am I supposed to do now?
Over the next several days, Dick made several attempts to talk to Millie. He came to her house multiple times, but her family members told him she was in her bedroom and refused to see him. He tried to call her at work, but another woman answered the phone and each time said that Millie wasn’t at work that day.
After a few days of that, Dick went to Fannie’s college dorm and asked for her. When she came down to the lobby, she was surprised and confused to see him there. No one had told her what had happened the previous weekend.
“Fannie, I need you to talk some sense into Millie,” Dickie pleaded. “She’s completely flipped her lid. One second she was proudly wearing the engagement ring I’d just given her, and the next second she threw it at me and said she never wanted to see me again.”
Fannie was shocked at the news of both the proposal and the breakup. “You proposed to her? What on earth happened, Dickie? You must have said or done something incredibly stupid!”
“I swear, all that happened is that she completely misunderstood something I said innocently, but then she wouldn’t give me a chance to explain. I can’t defend myself if she won’t even listen to me.”
“Okay, I’m going to need you to start at the beginning. At least at the beginning of when it all started going wrong. I assume you popped the question, and she said yes, and you put the ring on her finger, and she’s admiring it and smiling. Then what happened?”
“Then I told her about a promise I’d made to Jack if anything happened to him.”
“And that set her off? What was the promise?”
“Jack made me promise to look after Millie, to make sure she was being cared for, if anything happened to him. I told her that, and then I said something about I’d now be doing that more than either of us imagined as her husband. It was just meant to be a lighthearted observation. But then she jumped to the wild and completely wrong conclusion that our entire relationship was based on me fulfilling my obligation to Jack and nothing more. She’s convinced I’ve only been pretending to love her all this time.
“You have to admit, that was a pretty boneheaded thing to tell her,” Fannie responded. “Don’t get me wrong, Dickie; I think it’s admirable that you made that promise and are taking it seriously, but consider how incredibly patronizing it must have sounded to her. What she probably heard was, ‘You’ll always be a burden on someone. You realize I’m doing you a big favor by marrying you for Jack’s sake, don’t you?’”
“I didn’t mean it like that at all!” protested Dickie.
“I’m sure you didn’t. I know you well enough to know that if you really did feel that way, you’d never actually say it out loud, especially to her face. But that’s what she heard. Now tell me what you really meant. If I’m going to help, I have to be able to explain to her what really was going through your mind.”
“Okay,” Dick replied. “Jack had the impression Millie wouldn’t ever marry or find anyone who would hire her, and so she’d have to be supported by your parents for the rest of their lives. He was prepared to assume that responsibility when they passed on or reached the point where they couldn’t do it any longer. Right before D-Day, he was concerned about what would happen to her if he didn’t survive. He asked me to assume responsibility for her if I made it out alive and he didn’t.
“What he meant was to do so in the event that none of you – the surviving siblings – were willing or able to take responsibility for Millie when your parents no longer could. I agreed to do that. I knew that that really meant just staying in touch with your family, monitoring the situation, and only stepping in if and when it became necessary, so that Millie wouldn’t end up on the street. Well, Jack didn’t die on D-Day, but when he did later, I worked on the assumption that the commitment I’d made to him was still in effect.
“You have to realize that Jack was thinking in terms of the pre-war, teenaged version of Millie, and so was I. It just didn’t occur to either of us that she would actually get a job and be able to support herself if need be, or that anyone would ever fall in love with her and want to marry her.
“After we lost Jack, I couldn’t help but think more and more about Millie, and I really wanted to get to know her better once I came home. Not to get romantically involved with her, but just because I was committed to making sure she was cared for. I could do that better if I understood her wants and needs, her frustrations, and so on. Once I got home and did that, I realized I liked what I saw. I discovered that Millie was a very interesting person with a unique life experience that made her who she is, and I began to fall in love with her.
“I confess that I thought of all the reasons why I shouldn’t get involved with a crippled girl, and I tried to talk myself out of it. That’s why I asked you out instead. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and there was no denying it – my heart wanted Millie. You know the rest of the story after that.”
“That was a very sweet story, Dickie,” replied Fannie. “It’s too bad you never told it to Millie.”
“Well I was starting to; I was trying to, but she didn’t let me get past the part where I’d made the promise to Jack to look after her. She just immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was only pretending to love her out of a sense of duty to Jack, and she became as mad as a hornet and wouldn’t let me finish or explain. Please tell her the rest of the story, Fannie. She won’t talk to me now, and so someone else is going to have to do it for me.
“I could accept it if she ended it with me because she didn’t love me, or I just wasn’t right for her, or if I’d done some horrible thing that she couldn’t forgive. I could certainly accept it if what she thinks were really true – that I didn’t love her and only saw her as an obligation. But I can’t let this be over because of a misunderstanding. I have to make sure she knows the truth, one way or another.
“As hard as it is to say this, once she does, if she still refuses to see me again, I’ll stop pursuing her. I’ll respect her wishes. However, I’ll still keep my original commitment to Jack and make sure she never ends up on the street. She can’t keep me from doing that.”
“All right, I’ll talk to her,” replied Fannie. “I’ll arrange to go home this weekend and I’ll have a heart-to-heart with her, whether she wants to or not. I agree; she needs to be told the truth. I know she loves you deeply, Dickie, and she must be as devastated by this as you are. You two are just too right for each other for this to be the end. I owe it to you as my friend and to her as my sister to make her understand where you’re coming from and what she’s throwing away.”
“Thanks, Fannie,” Dick replied. “You’re the best.”