Man-to-Man

Dale Richey is six. Six weeks ago he was burned in a backyard gasoline fire. To save his life, a surgeon at Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital amputated both of Dale's gangrenous legs below the knees. But Dale did not know that. To keep his son's spirits up, Howard Richey brought a new pair of roller skates to the hospital. Dale looked forward to trying them out and the fine time he would have.

One day last week Dale's father came to his hospital bed again and asked him to put aside the comics book he was reading. It was time for a man-to-man talk. Howard Richey's voice was unsteady: "Dale, you'll be able to play again ... but your legs will be shorter . . . your feet had to be taken off ... you'll have to learn to walk all over again."

"How am I going to do that, Daddy?"

"We'll get some legs for you. The soldiers who lost their legs in the war are walking again. They were brave and I want you to be brave too."

Dale thought it over. Then he said, "That's all right, Daddy." He smiled, and picked up his comics book.

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