We are in 1963, it's spring and everything is shining with foliage and multicolored flowers, water is running behind us. It's nature waking up after a long, cold, harsh winter. There is no sign that this spring will change my life forever.
It is the month of MAY. It was a beautiful sunny day and I had a blast with my brothers and my only sister at the time. We had an acre of land and thus a large outdoor natural amusement park. The creek was flowing and frogs were jumping all over the place. I try to catch one to do like my brothers and play with it. Several activities during the day led to me being at the end of my rope and having to tell my mom, "Mom, I'm tired. My head hurts and my heart hurts." It was 9 o'clock at night! It is a little late for a young girl of only 3 years old. So she told me to go to bed and rest, which I did!
It was my last day walking. As early as 6 a.m., I asked my father, who was getting up early to go to the factory, to come help me get up. He thought I was having fun! He told me not to do such things. I lifted my leg with my hands and let it fall on the bed. When he realized that it wasn't a joke, he woke up my mother and I was taken to the hospital near our home. When the doctor saw me, he said, "We have to transfer her to Ste-Justine Hospital in Montreal. Your daughter has contracted polio." Bang! A sledgehammer blow to the heads of both my parents. The doctor continued: "Are there other children in the family? If so, they need to be vaccinated immediately. Go get them!" My brothers still remember the big sting on their butts!!! My older sister (who is a twin with one of my brothers) tells them that it's not that bad... She could see that for me, it was very difficult as well as for my parents.
The months that followed and the year that followed almost cost me my life and abandonment. I found myself alone, without family by my side, without my brothers and sister, my mom, my dad and my maternal grandmother who lived with us. This estrangement marked me for life with a hot iron!
It is very difficult for the parents to see their child away, and for the child to learn to rebuild on his own. Finding their own bearings and finding friends to spend time with and get through the ordeal.
Some very good friends of my father's who worked with my father at the PATON weaving mill, offered transportation every Sunday from Sherbrooke to Montreal, so that I could see my parents and they could visit me. My joy was profound to see my mom and dad who spent the whole day with me. They brought me outside with big blankets, despite the 25 Celsius outside, so that I could get back to some semblance of normal life... away from the germs. I almost died on the other side, three times. I caught several childhood diseases, because my humanitarian system was very weakened.
One day my mother asked the doctor what he was doing with me during the week. He said, "your daughter is so weak, she won't make it through the next year..." and my mother said in a matter-of-fact tone, "do you take my daughter out during the day? She needs fresh air and a change of scenery. Find her a nurse who can entertain her and keep her amused for a while."
These were very heavy words to which the doctors at Ste-Justine did not know how to respond.
Mom said, "I want to take my daughter out for a week. If I can't do it with all the love we have for her, then I'll bring her back to you and we'll discuss what to do with her. She needs to see her family."
The doctor in charge signed me out for a week! When I returned to the hospital the following week, the doctor did not recognize me. What have you done with your daughter? Her cheeks are all rosy, she looks good, she's got her strength back and she's all dolled up? My mother said, "It's simple, Doctor, we took her outside, sat her in the children's sandbox, played with her brothers' trucks and her sister's dolls, bathed her and .... We just loved her!" He reportedly told my parents that there was nothing more he could do for me. The doctor sent us home and I never went to that hospital again in my life. LOVE reigned for all of us!
I would like to explain the phenomenon of accompanying my father's friends. Solidarity was popular in those days and at very high levels. This friend and his wife have been a relief for me every week. Without them, I would not be in this world anymore. They were an amazing stimulus for me and my parents. I wanted to thank them so much. I lost sight of them because after I came home, I didn't look for them anymore. Not out of selfishness, but I had found my family nest. Mom and Dad still saw them, but they didn't tell me about them. They had chosen to look ahead!
Life sometimes has great surprises in store for us. One sad evening, at the funeral of a deceased friend, about 5 years ago, I met an exceptional group. They were sitting not far from me, chatting about everything and anything. Suddenly, a name caught my attention: Mr. Normand Ainslé. I turn my head and look at this man. He is happy and chatting with his friends. I decide to approach him and ask him if he knew Mr. Normand Ainslé.
He said "it's me!" I was moved and introduced myself by saying to him "it's me Colette Jean, for whom you gave all your Sundays to my father and my mother so that they could come to see me at Ste-Justine"!
Stupor... We are both shaken... I jump into his arms to finally tell him thank you for everything he did for me and my family. I didn't know, if one day I could meet this man who helped me so much, who was there for me at 100 %. I can now say that it is an accomplished thing. I check off yes to LIFE.
Today, 57 years later, I say to myself that I have no right to waste my life on futile or unhealthy things. This man gave me life by a gesture of the heart and also my parents and my family (I do not forget my other sister who arrived 10 years after my birth/gift of life) and I return this gesture to other hearts as to GIVE TO THE NEXT.
I enjoy life, I practice sports, I keep myself as healthy as possible, I go out, I live and see friends and I keep a balance of benevolence and serenity as on the ocean. The lightness of spring flowers animates me again!
I try to learn from the silence and calm of the mountain!
She talks to me...
By Colette Jean
