Snakes on the Porch: A Memoir

Could it be said you had potential for a career in medicine if, with the first breath of your life, you contradicted the prognosis of your mother’s obstetrician? If, from the day of that birth, you had to make your way through daily life using only one arm and hand, could you: dress yourself? tie your shoes? fix your bike? ride a bull? drive a tractor? type a letter? play a trumpet? run your own sewing machine? supervise a toxicology confirmation laboratory?

We all fail at something, sometime, but failure to try may be the biggest failure of all - especially if you start out facing higher hurdles than the rest of the team. The girl in this story - her story, spent her life refusing to recognize the hurdles before her. She saw them but chose to ignore them, starting with the first day she looked in a mirror and realized her shoulders were at different levels – unlike everyone else’s. Most of us probably don’t have what it takes to face that kind of reality every day for eighty years but, those who can should write a book – and she did.