I was one of many kids in the thousands of children who were brutally attacked by poliomyelitis during the epidemic outbreak of the virus between the years of 1951 and 1952 in México

She never understood why she had Post-Polio Syndrome later in life. Marge never pitied herself and knew she could do anything she put her mind to.

Through all the ups and downs in her life Marge always had one word for herself, “blessed”.

“You’re OK but your feet don’t match”, my future husband jokingly said to me as he was walking me home from our first meeting.

Deborah served as activist, mentor, friend, sister and boss to many in Memphis and across the country.

At the age of four, I quickly had to come to terms with the devastating reality of contracting polio. I was born in Israel in 1945, but it would be another decade before the country began a national immunization program.