Dimensions:
18×12

This is a scene of me watching my friend, Jamie, play caroms, a game like pool, popular in the 1950’s and 60’s. It was interesting for me to see him prepare for the best shot, taking a stance in leg braces that kept his knees locked straight, since polio left him totally paralyzed from the chest down to his toes. First, he used gravity to swing his right leg in front of the other one. Because his knees couldn’t bend in locked braces, he had to lean on the table and one crutch to get low enough to aim the carom stick. I held his other crutch. But his back, which was suspended and wasn’t supported by anything, showed the extent of the paralysis as it bowed like a loose accordion. Now, gravity worked against him. His mid-section was so limp that his stomach came out of his shirt and sagged close to his knees, if you can believe that! This is how paralyzed Jamie was, but he was good at playing caroms, as well as walking in his braces to keep his legs as straight as splints.