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Be Not Afraid sufferingDeb grew up in a comfortable home, attended privateschools, toured Europe, and vacationed on Martha’sVineyard. After high school, she attended Smith, anexclusive college for women near Boston. But if herchildhood was synonymous with privilege, her adultlife was not.At forty-three, Deb, who was by now married with sixchildren, began to experience numbness in her handsand feet. No medical explanation could be found. Notone to complain, she quietly bore the bothersomeproblem as it slowly worsened. Soon she began to growweak and unsteady as well. “Mom can’t even help mezipper my jacket,” her son Tommy told a classmate. Norwas she able to lift a milk carton off the table withoutgreat effort, by clasping it with both hands. Still, shebravely insisted on fulfilling her motherly tasks.Early in 1969 a lump was found in the back ofDeb’s neck, and she was hospitalized. An emergencyoperation removed the tumor, but the surgery left hertotally paralyzed below the neck. Almost completelyhelpless, she could communicate only with her eyes.But where others saw a ruined body as the mainoutcome of her ordeal, Deb concentrated on the factthat her life had been spared. Adamant that she wouldlearn to become fully functional again, she saw aphysical therapist several times a week, and at homeshe strained daily to re-teach her muscles to do what she118