Olga Nordstrom

Once upon a time I broke my leg.  Right leg to be exact.  I was in 4th grade.  And at that point I became a cripple. 

Okay.  I'm exaggerating.  Due to the break of both my tibia and fibula through the growth plate I was told that it was possible that my right leg may grow faster or slower than the left.  I might end up with one leg longer than the other.  If I remember right I put on a brave face and hid my nightmarish dreams from my parents.  Heaven forbid they know that I was anticipating the following.

Olga Nordstrom.  For any of you that love Little House on the Prairie like I do you would be fully aware of the episode about Olga.  She is the local cripple girl who has one leg longer than the other.  She limps when she walks and can't run.  But don't you worry.  Charles Ingles saves the day with his brilliant carpentry and fashions her a shoe with a thick wooden sole making her short leg the appropriate length.  And then the unthinkable happens.

Yep.  Olga finally gets invited to play baseball.  And she can even run the bases!  It's a Little House miracle!

I know.  I sound crazy.  And crazy I might actually be.  But as a 10-year-old growing into a teenager and playing competitive soccer, these were the things I use to worry about.  Would my legs be uneven like Olga's?  Would I be able to run?  And with one short leg would running result in running in circles?  (Think about it!!!) 

Years later in my adult life I found a group of friends unlike any I had ever had.  I call them my Cakies.  They knew the good, bad and ugly about me, including my own 1989 Olga story.  When I found out that I would be moving 6 hours away from my Cakies they surprised me with a Going Away party where they showered me with gifts.  One of those gifts was a pair of navy blue boots with a 2x4 screwed to the bottom of the right shoe.  I would never limp again!  I would never run in circles!  I had finally found my modern day Charles Ingles! 

Truth be told I had three surgeries following the initial break of my right ankle to fix the cripple potential.  And I'm happy to say that although today my ankle is scarred and somewhat crooked, it is not distinctively shorter or longer than the other.  Little House miracles still happen today. 

Thanks to my Cakies for making me laugh at myself, and thanks to Olga for putting on a brave face and wearing a wooden shoe.  I'm pretty sure she's to thank for the idea of a wedge heel.  And for that I am also grateful.

(This post is dedicated specifically to my one and only AF.  Why you, you ask?  You know why.)