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Show V5 SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH Crippling arthritis has proved a challenge rather than a handicap to Mrs. Nellie B. Monaghan 618 MUton Street, Casper, Wyo. As a result, her bed- m j? Zi''"' 1 room Is her , : headquarters UI for four pros- ji J i perlng bust- t ,M V V nesses. f ' S rJi Mrs. Monag- - ) J han, although f x Jr J unable to walk r)' and suffering it'J'tr from badly faj 1 V ? crippled hands. ' ' Si- conducts the Mrs- Monaghan Casper Nurses Registry, a telephone service for business firms, a magazine maga-zine subscription service and a card, stationery and gift shop. In addition, she Is active by telephone tele-phone In the work of her church club and of the Casper Business and Professional Women's Club as weU as several'other organizations. In recognition of her hard won buttle against Invalidism and the inspiring example she has set for other handicapped persons, the National Na-tional Society for Crippled Children and Adults has presented her its "Who's Crippled?" citation. The ceremony conferring the citation was held by the Wyoming Society for Crippled Children and Adults In Casper. Mrs. Monaghan began her long fight against illness In 1927 when arthritis first showed its crippling effects. By 1939, she was no longer able to walk and she had little use of her hands. Until the last eight months, she has been bedfast, but now is able to sit on the side of her bed or leave the bed for a wheel chair for a part of each day. Her story, important not only because be-cause of her business success, is even more important because of her Indomitable attitude toward her crippling, her normal, friendly relations re-lations with other people and her steadfast maintenance of personal, social and community activities. Mrs. Monaghan was widowed in 1928 shortly after the onset ol artn-ritis. artn-ritis. She continued to work part time In a Casper bank until 1936 when her handicap made It Impossible Impos-sible for her to leave her home. She and her mother, now 83, own their own 12-room home, renting rooms to young businessmen and college students. Mrs. Monaghan'a business enterprises enter-prises are carried on with the help of a special pulley arrangement which holds the telephone beside her at the head of her bed. A small, flat box-switch has been specially designed to lie on the bed beside her to facilitate her calls. Her nurses registry handles all nursing service in Casper. A number num-ber of business firms use her telephone tele-phone service and in addition, her magazine subscription service handles han-dles orders for aU parts of the United States, Canada, and even England, France and China. The card, stationery and gift shop is set up in a small room which opens oft her bedroom so that she can conduct con-duct business from her bed as well as from her wheel chair. Although she formerly employed a coUege student to do her typing, she Is now able to do all of her own work with an electric typewriter, turning out as many as 90 pieces of mall in two days. Her contribution to her church club is to handle the telephone business busi-ness In connection with Its various projects and activities. The group meets at her home on occasion so she can maintain her personal contacts con-tacts with them. She keeps up her Interest In the professional woman's wom-an's club and is also a member of the Eastern Star and Women's Benefit Association. Today Mrs. Monaghan Is practicing practic-ing standing a little each day as she is able. She hopes to be able to walk again. If she can walk, it will be wonderful, she says. But it she can't, her life is full and her friends know that her activity and her cheerful approach to every day will not la any way be changed. |