Atlanta Daily World

Victim Of Arthritis Gives Some Points Against Worrying
BY EDWARD PEEKS

Susie M. Green, 961 Frank Street, S. W., a victim of arthritis who has been confined to a wheel chair for eight years.

The 60-year-old housewife and grandmother is no worrier, though she has been stricken with arthritis for 14 years. Friends and relatives know her as a cheerful person and an excellent housekeeper.

A stout and hearty woman, Mrs. Green explained the other day that she came down with the disease when her younger son, Donald, now 21, was seven years old. He is an Airman 3rd class stationed at Great Falls, Mont.

"For a long time Donald was the only help I had," Mrs. Green recalled housekeeping days before she began using the wheel chair. "He would help me. I'd get in one place and he'd hand me things."

Donald, who won three certificates of merit for his art work from Scholastic Magazine, was drafted more than a year ago after he was graduated from Washington High.

"When Donald went to the army, I said, 'Lord, don't let me worry.'" Mrs. Green explained, as memory cast a prayerful look on her bespectacled face.

Her older son, Howard Green of 22 Whitehouse Dr., S. W., is a mail carrier and father of two young girls.

Mrs. Green's voice took on a cheerful and proud tone when she remembered that she and her husband, Clater Green, 62, caretaker of Park Street Methodist Church will observe their 41st wedding anniversary on Monday.

She said she had not been outdoors in six years, until members of the Extension Sunday School of Ebenezer Baptist, Rev. M. L. King, pastor, honored her at a reception during the early part of the year.

But she has been out of her home three times since then because her husband now has the convenience of an automobile, she stated.

The reception was held at the home of a friend, Mrs. Alberta Whitehead of 995 Parsons St., S. W., teacher of the West Side Extension Sunday School class that has 38 regular members.

Mrs. Emma Clayton, 207 Laurel Ave., S. W., is general superintendent of the Extension Sunday School that has four classes in the city which meet monthly.

Members "visit people who can't go to church" and "bring the church to them," Mrs. Whitehead explained.

She said of Mrs. Green, "Her kitchen is spotless. She keeps house as well as anybody I know."

Henry W. Whitehead, husband of Mrs. Whitehead, put in smilingly as he glanced at his wife: "Susie's house is cleaner than yours."

Mrs. Green said, "I don't give up to arthritis. Whenever I have something to do, I just go on and do it." Then she rubbed her knees. "Hot weather makes my knees hurt."

Asked how does she ease the pain, Mrs. Green replied, "I just let my knees hurt until they get tired and quit."

She said she "can stand up a little every once in a while." After she was stricken with arthritis, she dragged about in the house on her feet for a long time, until friends and neighbors persuaded her to use a wheel chair.

Mrs. Green explained that her family alone had not been able to persuade her to do so. Neighbors bought her first wheel chair and the salesman delivered it with the curt explanation, "This is for you," she recalled. He would not tell her who sent the chair.

She spoke warmly of neighbors and friends who include Quenton and Mrs. Ethel Phillips, 940 Frank St., Edward and Mrs. Lorraine Bell, 952 Frank St., and next-door neighbor, Mrs. Emma Zellas, 963 Frank St.

Mrs. Green expressed hope of soon enjoying the pleasure of paddling around and sitting in her back yard.

"I haven't been out in that back yard yet," she said ruefully, explaining that recent outside activity had not included this cherished part of her home.

Mrs. Green has been a member of Ebenezer Baptist for 46 years. She may be looked upon as a good example of her own advice:

"Anything you have to do, you can find a way to do it."