May 28, 1964
Master Mel Dinker
Columbus Hospital - Room 276
3321 North Maryland Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dear Chip,
I understand you have lost a leg and of course you
are not exactly happy about it.
I was about your
age when I lost mine, and I have learned a few things since then which you
probably have not yet had time to find out for yourself.
The main trick is
not to keep remembering what you've lost, but all the rest you have left. When
you can do that, other people will too, not because they are afraid of hurting
you, but because it just won't be important.
The next step is
to get to be the master of your artificial limb and to start doing all the
things you did before, just as soon as possible. I will not tell you that your
artificial leg will do the job your real one did, anymore than glasses are
better than eyes, but it does a pretty darn good job, and soon enough it will
mean no more to you than glasses do to those who wear them.
Of all the major
misfortunes that can happen to the human body, the loss of a leg is perhaps the
least. I don't expect you to know that now, but you will know it.
Good luck!
(Signed,
'Al Capp')
AL CAPP
AC/nw
