Polio. The word brought fear to the hearts of adults and young people alike in the early to mid-1900s. While some who contracted the virus had minor symptoms and minimal long-lasting effects, the disease crippled or killed others.
Darlene was a small-town single mother from Arkansas. Bert was a small-town preacher's son from Oklahoma. Polio crippled both of them as teenagers. When their paths crossed at a rehab center in 1952, these young adults questioned how anything good could come from this crippling virus. Bert's faith in the Biblical passage of Romans 8:28 gave him hope that "Polio was not good, but God would bring good out of it." Darlene's journey to the rehab center was "the one way for God to get me in the right place at the right time."
Their fierce love for each other and unwavering faith in God propelled them to join forces and become a family. Their faith sustained them as they navigated an able-bodied world with disabled bodies. They inspired those who knew them.
"Critics wondered how Darlene, in a wheelchair, and Bert, on crutches, could ever manage. Outsiders looked at their weaknesses and predicted a brief marriage. They looked at each other's strengths and made a lifelong commitment. They learned to pool their strengths to accomplish necessary tasks."—their brother-in-law Dale.
"They turned tragedy into triumph. While they held each other's hands, they never let go of the hand of Jesus."—cousin Dean.
"Theirs is a story of brokenness and redemption. We all have that, but theirs was a big picture of that." — granddaughter Shaira.
"Aunt Darlene and Uncle Bert 'MacGyvered' their world (before it was a verb) with their custom-built house in Dallas and their hand-controlled or operated cars."—nephew Dan.