Little children ages two to four years old were on the second floor with four counselors. Among the little tots, was a two year old ill with Asthma. How her mother sent this child to sleep a way camp was puzzling to us. The camp mother who did not bargain for this job was with the baby most of the time. We did not have too much contact with the children in the dorm as we had teenage activities that took us away from them.
It was a day that changed my perspective of human nature and a day to be tested. It was also a day when I first met my husband although we were strangers until a few years later.. We acquainted ourselves with our new camp friends on the first day. There was a dissatisfaction among some of the girls because one of them had a deformity, one of which was never seen before by any of us. Some of the girls refused to share their dorm with her. Some threatened to call their parents to take them home.
At first I, too, was uncomfortable, but found it fascinating watching that beautiful faced teenager applying lipstick on her lips, using her hands attached to her arms. Having no forearms, Lenore was a Thalidomide baby. When her mother was pregnant, her doctor prescribed the miracle cure for “morning sickness." The drug was also used as a sedative to help patients sleep. Unfortunately many doctors all over the world prescribed this drug to pregnant women.leaving many babies deformed. The drug was banned for many years until recently making it useful as a powerful cancer fighter.
Lenore warmed up to us quickly. She wasted little time being friendly. We decided to invite her to share our room. She became one of us doing everything we did. I could not get over how she polished her toenails perfectly. Besides being intelligent, Lenore had good typing skills, along with a cheerful and witty personality. Her good looks reminded us of Doris Day. Whenever she walked into a room with her smiley face, the whole room lit up. Her handicap did not restrict her in anything we did as far as I can remember. She was one of us and was a lot of fun
Lenore had a lot of self confidence despite her handicap. She wore beautiful rings on all her fingers. Around her wrists she wore beautiful bracelets. Lenore was lucky, as other babies had only one or two fingers along with deformed feet.
Through the years we separated like many of our camp friends. We all had different paths in our future. About ten years ago, Lenore found me in Florida as I had recently moved to an adult community. We got together with our husbands on several occasions and kept in touch. Lenore worked at the Bethesda Memorial hospital in Boynton Beach, Fl. in the records department. She was a dear friend and an asset to me when my mother passed away there.
Lenore and I caught up almost fifty years of our lives with our experiences and hardships. Although handicapped, she took care of her older sister who became a drug addict, eventually placing her in a nursing home and later taking care of her burial. She took care of her aging parents until she found good nursing homes for them and eventually handled their burials as well. How ironic, as I remember her family all too well when they came up to camp on visiting day. Her parents were very attractive, looking like movie stars. Her older sister was prettier than her parents. I could tell then by the way they treated her, that Lenore was a disappointment to them. However they loved her dearly, and in the end, Lenore was the strongest of all and survived everyone..
Due to the economy and their retirement, they were forced to sell their house which was not too far from us. They moved about three hours away.. She missed her old friends in Boynton Beach, however found a life for herself and her husband Don, making new friends and volunteering in a school teaching English as a second language.
Every year Lenore always called me on my birthday and I wished her a happy birthday as well. Her birthday was a day after mine. This year, since I did not hear from her, I sent her a Birthday Greeting on Face Book. When I did not see a response from her I went into her profile page to see comments of other well wishers.
Face Book is a wonderful web site. It brings old friends and families together after years of being apart. I heard of an adopted child finding her mother on Face book, or the other way around. But who would think I would find an old friend on Face book deceased without being told first. She passed away about 20 days prior to her birthday. It was shocking and devastating.
Lenore, you will be missed.
For those who have never seen a Thalidomide baby
