From the beginning......

     OK, as promised, I am going to start at the beginning. Here we go, are you ready?

     As I was growing up, my godmother Nancy Ligouri lived in Stamford, CT. One summer, my mother told me that Nancy had invited me to come visit her for several weeks. I couldn't say YES fast enough! I did this for several summers and how I loved those mini "vacations" within the customary summer school vacation! Oh, the fun I had. Nancy's children were all grown by then and I was treated like a Queen. Please, being the youngest of 3 girls, I felt I deserved every minute of all that attention!! Ha! Ha! Her husband, Peter was a big kid himself and I was always amazed at how I felt so welcome in their home. They had a dog, Ricky that I learned to love. He was the dog I never had. I was in heaven! Nancy and Peter managed a Bess Eaton Donut shop right down the street from their home. The days would fly by and we were always on the go. Often, Nancy and I would go to the donut shop and I would hang out and eat (a lot) donuts while she would attend to bookwork, sometimes I would join her on errands and best of all, Lord and Taylor was just down the street. Lord and Taylor! I felt like the luckiest young lady in the entire world. She would take me to the beach, she would take us into NYC, she took me to shows and plays, we would shop and do lunch and I loved every minute of it. Her daughter, my cousin Laura Lee, still lived at home. She worked in NYC and would take the train in everyday. How I wanted to be just like her when I grew up! I looked up to her and thought everything she did was the "coolest". She was in her early 20's and I thought she was so pretty and I was in complete awe of her. I so desperately wanted her to be my big sister. She also had the cutest, sweetest, most lovable fiancé, Eddie. I loved Eddie from the start. From the first time I met him, I was in love. He treated me like a little Princess and to this day, although I hardly ever get to see him anymore, I literally adore the ground he walks on. There are few others who have had a more significant impact in my life than Eddie Dusick! More of him to follow. Much more.

     It was the summer of '73 and Nancy took me school (clothes) shopping. I was in a dressing room trying on clothes (along with a new bikini) when I suddenly noticed that I looked....different? I hadn't noticed before? There I stood, in front of a full length mirror and my mouth dropped! It was as if I were looking at two different bodies, on my one body. Both sides looked "normal" per se, but yet they weren't "equal"!?!

     My left hip and my left shoulder looked like it should, but my right shoulder was higher and my right hip was higher. It was as if I had "tilted" overnight! I called for my godmother and I asked her to look at me. She acknowledged that she indeed saw what I was seeing and seemed concerned. She told me to make sure I told my mother as soon as I got home. Being 12 years old, I was easily able to shrug off any concern I had for the remainder of my trip.

     Upon returning home, I told my mother (as expected, she was keenly aware. Nancy had spoken to her while I was still in CT) as I was trying on my new clothes for school. I put a sundress on and both of us noticed immediately that the dress lay crooked on me! She came and stood behind me and said, "Since when did one of your shoulder blades move?". My shoulder blade did what? It moved? I barely knew where my shoulder blade was, and now it had moved? I could see the concern in my mother’s eyes as she swiftly left the room to call the doctors' office. My mother, although raised in a somewhat poor family, was always insistent on calling the doctor whenever necessary. She was a big believer in modern medicine and possessed complete respect for the human body and the need to care for it properly. Many of my friends know that I often refer to my mother as the original "granola cruncher". This woman actually worked out with Jack LaLanne every day! I'd be watching TV at night and she would be on the floor doing sit-ups and "bicycling", saying "C'mon kids, get some exercise!". I wanted nothing to do with it and I still hate exercise to this day. She was one of those Type-A, obsessive-compulsive "do-ers" who never rested! Usually I was exhausted just watching her! She was so into her health and the health of my dad and her children. Literally, my sisters and I would have barely a sniffle and she would be calling the doctor. Thank God she was so "modern" in this way. Once again, I pushed it out of my mind and went back to my David Cassidy posters and pushing the limits regarding "what's the most eye makeup I can get away with before Dad notices?" and fighting with my sisters. I recall my sister Michele being so jealous when I got back home from Nancy's that summer because I knew all the words to the most popular songs on the radio. Didn't she know I was cool now?? I mean, I DID just spend 3 weeks in Connecticut????

     The school year began within the week and my doctor appointment fell within that first week. Off we trekked to our family physician, Dr. Joseph Ruisi. He came into the room and my mother proceeded to update him on this recent realization and he asked me to stand up and he came and stood behind me. He lifted the back of my shirt and asked me to bend over. I did and little did I know how often I would be asked to repeat this bending test in the future, known as the "Adam's Bend Test". I did it again and again, all the while he would be randomly saying, "Hmm", "Hmm", "Hmm".... until he finally said, "Okay Valerie, you can take a seat". He sat down, looked at my mother and said, "Rose, she needs to see an orthopaed. I believe she has scoliosis". Scoliosis?? What the heck is that, I thought? He explained, in modest terms, that I had a curvature of the spine. He arranged an office visit with a local orthopedic physician.

     Due to the inappropriate manner in which I was treated by this orthopedic surgeon, I will refrain from posting his name. He deserves NO credit, not even name recognition. Dr. Ruisi had arranged this appointment for a week or two later. Upon entering the room, the nurse asked me to disrobe and put on a johnny. She left and I said to my mother, "Like, take off EVERYTHING?". I was 12 years old; I had never had to do that before! My mother said, "Everything but your panties". I obliged, but I didn’t like it. Little did I know the immediate future and thereafter held lots and lots of "Strip down, Valerie". It was just the beginning.

     I will continue this post soon. I need a break as this story, believe it or not, is almost the worst experience of my original hardship in my journey. Would you believe that when I was employed at Westerly Jewelry, "he" entered and I couldn't even look at him? I felt sick to my stomach and had to ask another sales associate to wait on him. I literally had to go to the ladies room and gain my composure. Thirty-six years later, I still detest this doctor for his brute medical approach.