No Time for Tears

By Charles H. Andrews, Eleanor Roosevelt and Earl Warren

THE STORY OF A TEN-YEAR-OLD BOY’S DESPERATE BUT SUCCESSFUL BATTLE TO SURVIVE POLIO, AND HIS FAMILY’S ROLE IN GUIDING HIM BACK TO A NORMAL LIFE.

“This book tells of a ten-year-old boy who was suddenly deposited in an iron lung to battle for his very life. What he went through will illustrate the new ways that have been developed to fight polio. In recent years much has been learned about treating this disease, but there is still much more to know.

“I think that this story will illustrate one important age-old truth, namely, that faith and confidence are essential factors in healing. Anyone who has watched polio patients find their way back to a normal life will understand why most of them have such a gallant spirit and will meet difficulties without fear or trepidation. I think it is probably because a polio attack is such a terrific blow that once the patient has decided to fight back, all fear seems to be left behind.”—Eleanor Roosevelt

• Language: English
• Publisher: Valmy Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781789126198

Charles H. Andrews

CHARLES H. ANDREWS (1916-2004) was an American author, musician, humanitarian and former owner of the Ojai Valley News. Born on November 20, 1916 in Trenton, New Jersey, he was working as a reporter in Flint, Michigan, when he met Norma Shelp. They were married in 1939 and went on to have four children: Chuck, Carol, and twins Roger and Patricia. The family moved to the West Coast in 1945 and lived in Los Angeles while Andrews worked as a technical writer for North American Aviation. In 1948, he took his family to the Ojai Valley, where he worked as a reporter and editor for The Ojai before founding The Ojai Valley News in 1949. He was co- founder of the Ojai Valley Junior Chamber of Commerce and for seven years served as chairman of the March of Dimes. In 1950, Andrews’ eldest child, Chuck, was diagnosed with polio at age 10, and he tells the story of his son’s battle for survival in his bestselling 1951 book, No Time for Tears. He died in Santa Paula, California on April 3, 2004, aged 87 ELEANOR ROOSEVELT (1884-1962) was an American political figure, diplomat and activist. She served as the First Lady of the United States from 1933-1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office, making her the longest serving First Lady of the United States. Roosevelt served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945-1952. EARL WARREN (1891-1974) was an American jurist and politician who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States (1953-1969) and earlier as the 30th Governor of California (1943-1953). The Warren Court presided over a major shift in constitutional jurisprudence, with Warren writing the majority opinions in landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, Reynolds v. Sims, and Miranda v. Arizona. Warren also led the Warren Commission, a presidential commission that investigated the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

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Text originally published in 1961 under the same title.

© Valmy Publishing 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

NO TIME FOR TEARS

BY

CHARLES H. ANDREWS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

DEDICATION 4

FOREWORD 5

INTRODUCTION 6

CHAPTER I—All in One Piece 7

CHAPTER II—Polio Strikes 9

CHAPTER III—To Live or Not to Live 12

CHAPTER IV—Good Night, Nurse! 19

CHAPTER V—A Ten-dollar Parlay 22

CHAPTER VI—The Conversation 24

CHAPTER VII—Laughs in the Lung 26

CHAPTER VIII—Halloween Party 30

CHAPTER IX—Love in Bloom 33

CHAPTER X—Will I Get Home for Christmas? 38

CHAPTER XI—Lights Out! 43

CHAPTER XII—That Others May Live 47

CHAPTER XIII—Exit Fruit Jar 50

CHAPTER XIV—Company Comes 53

CHAPTER XV—We Are Needed 55

CHAPTER XVI—Look! A Bird! 57

CHAPTER XVII—Big Victory 61

CHAPTER XVIII—We Work for Polio 67

CHAPTER XIX—Discard This Fear 70

CHAPTER XX—The Helping Hand 71

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 76

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all crippled children, to the thousands of people who have devoted their lives to helping them, and to my courageous son, Charles, whose great victory over polio made this story possible.

C. H. A.

FOREWORD

This book tells of a ten-year-old boy who was suddenly deposited in an iron lung to battle for his very life. What he went through will illustrate the new ways that have been developed to fight polio. In recent years much has been learned about treating this disease, but there is still much more to know.

I think that this story will illustrate one important age-old truth, namely, that faith and confidence are essential factors in healing. Anyone who has watched polio patients find their way back to a normal life will understand why most of them have such a gallant spirit and will meet difficulties without fear or trepidation. I think it is probably because a polio attack is such a terrific blow that once the patient has decided to fight back, all fear seems to be left behind.

I always felt that it was my husband’s successful fight to take up life after polio that gave him the courage to face the conditions of the country in 1933 and announce that there was nothing to fear but fear itself.

Signed,

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

INTRODUCTION

No Time for Tears relates the experiences of the parents of one child who was stricken by polio. No two such experiences are the same, but basically no two differ except in degree and in detail. Certainly all parents respond to the diagnosis of polio with shock and fear. I am sure that the story of these parents and ten-year-old son will help other parents who face the same terrifying ordeal.

Through the exercise of faith and courage and determination this family turned what at first appeared to be stark tragedy into a living problem that could be conquered step by step. This moving story tells how the boy responded to the faith of his parents. It also tells of the medical and other therapeutic resources that are now available and which are constantly improving, mentioning with gratitude the beneficent role of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

Of all that is known about polio, two things stand out as being all-important in any recovery. One is the faith to believe that recovery is possible, and the other is the determination to achieve it. Reading this family’s story will strengthen others to achieve that faith and determination.

EARL WARREN

Governor of California

CHAPTER I—All in One Piece

Here we are, home once more. Safe.

Frankly, I thought for a while we’d never be intact again. But it has all turned out fine.

The four-year-old twins, Roger and Patricia, are snug asleep in their beds tonight. So is Carol, our seven-year-old charmer. Topping off our family is the oldest guy, Chuck. He’s ten.

Just like many American families, we’ve gone through the ordinary tribulations and sicknesses; years unmarked by any spectacular happenings. I’ve changed jobs and locations. My wife Norma has remained the same sweet and pretty kid she was when we met fourteen years ago. As for myself, I’ve lost some hair in the process of aspiring to great things. Still it’s been fun being nobody. The big break has never come, and we still depend on the weekly pay check.

But to us the most important thing is that we have all the children home and alive.

Alive. We cannot possibly realize how much that word means until the life of someone we love is threatened. Norma and I still can recall with awful vividness the days and nights last fall when we wondered whether Chuck would come home alive. For he was a polio.

We have emerged from this sudden explosion in our lives with a story to tell other parents, whether they have ever encountered polio, or cerebral palsy, or rheumatic fever—any of the crippling diseases that require a long period of convalescence.

It boils down to solving a big problem: is your child going to grow into a normal human, or is he headed toward miserable years of self-pity and neuroticism?

Our own experience has proven to us that the choice lies with the parents. We’re all in the same boat, fathers and mothers together.

I have seen many people, since our experience, turn white with dread at the mention of the word polio. The paralysis of body—and the paralysis of fear.

Harboring this dread can be as devastating to the entire family as the disease itself.

Let me, therefore, tell you this story of the actual polio experience; of the faith that can be yours; of the modern miracle men of science; and of a parent’s part in guiding a child away from neuroticism and self-pity.

The story opens on a day that we can never forget. Sunday, October 8, 1950.

California skies were brilliantly blue, and as shadows of the giant oak trees around our house lengthened into late afternoon, the monotonous heat of the day began to break with occasional wisps of cool air.

Why don’t we bring Chuck out on the chaise longue and let him get some air? I asked Norma. He’d been in bed for four days, and absent from school two days before that, with poison oak. The doctor had prescribed some medicine for him, but a high fever persisted.

Good idea, she said; let’s try it. We were mildly worried but nothing more. Twelve years of raising children accustoms you to sickness.

Chuck was motionless on his bed, looking at the ceiling. I said, How about some fresh air? He didn’t turn his head. I leaned over him. What’s wrong?

My left eye. I see everything double.

I examined the eye, felt his head. Still hot. Well, I said, let’s try a breath of fresh air. I lifted him up to sitting position and put his arms around my neck. Norma held the back door open as I took him out to the chaise longue. His seventy pounds of boyhood muscle seemed to weigh seven hundred.

Dad, put me down, he begged; everything’s going round in circles. I’m dizzy!

I got him settled on the chaise longue and Norma smoothed back his damp blond hair. I beckoned her aside.

Maybe we’d better call the doctor again. I don’t like the looks of this.

She bit her lip. He’s never been like this before. I’ll go call right away.

We