File photo
Beatrice Burns with her husband Gov. John Burns
and son James in a 1965 Star-Bulletin photo.
Disability didn’t hamper
By James S. Burns
Hawaii’s former First LadyMOM was born in 1906. Her name was Beatrice Majors Van Vleet Burns. Her parents were Mid-western Methodists who were sometimes farmers but mostly itinerate teachers. Mom was born in Oregon, but grew up in various small towns in Oregon, California, Nevada and Nebraska. Mom often noted with disappointment that when she was ready to choose a career, she had only three choices: a housewife, teacher or nurse. Wanting to continue her travels, she chose to be a registered nurse. After training in San Jose, Mom joined the Army Nurses Corps.
Mom was on assignment at Schofield Barracks when she met my father. They married in 1931. My brother, Jack, was born in 1932. In 1934, my father became a policeman and my sister, Sheenagh, was born.
In 1935, when she was 29 years old and pregnant with my older brother, Bill, Mom was infected with polio. In her words, "I was completely paralyzed. I couldn't even sneeze. I couldn't brush my teeth or any of those things. I was a prisoner in my own body."
Bill was born on Oct. 11, 1935, but he lived only nine days. When my mother was told that Bill had died, her thought was, "If I cry, I'll die because I can't breathe, so I won't cry. And I didn't."
In my experience, people afflicted with severe disabilities either feel sorry for themselves and become a major pain to live with or they accept it, rise above it and become a pleasure to live with. Fortunately for all of us, my mother chose the latter course.
I was born in April 1937. In other words, in 1936, while my mother was paralyzed, she became pregnant with me. Now before you jump to the conclusion that father should be faulted for his inability to control his sexual urges, let me tell you their explanation.
My mother was extremely worried that she could no longer be a wife in the truest sense of that word. She was especially worried that she could no longer be my father's sexual partner. I am the result of their successful effort to prove her wrong.
While Mom was pregnant with me, no less than seven medical doctors in Hawaii refused to become involved in her case because she refused to abort me. Fortunately for both Mom and me, the impasse led to a very special man coming into our lives. His name was Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki. As a result of his care and treatment, my mother lived, regained the normal function of everything except her legs, and my Japanese name is Seishiro.
When my father ran as a delegate to Congress and for governor, many people were of the opinion that Mom would not be able to perform her role and would handicap my father's efforts. Yet for three years, this very special lady was the wife of Hawaii's delegate to Congress. For more than 10 years, she was the first lady of the state. In both positions, she quietly excelled.
Contrary to popular belief, Washington Place was not altered for her. When she arrived, there already was an elevator to the second floor. The problem was that the elevator was too small for Mom's wheelchair. As was typical of her, rather than change the elevator, Mom found a better solution. With the help of an expert at the rehab center, her wheelchair was modified so she could temporarily adjust it to fit into the elevator.
In spite of the physical disability she endured for 53 years, Mom lived a long, interesting, productive and rewarding life. She died of cancer in 1988 at the age of 82.
During our lives together, I saw my mother in all kinds of situations and with all kinds of people. Whether in the presence of those who were the salt of the earth or national and international dignitaries, Mom was always the same -- a person of grace, charm, wit, spirit and class, who happened to be in a wheelchair but who never, ever let it bother her or the people around her.
James S. Burns is chief judge of Hawaii's Intermediate
Court of Appeals and son of the late Gov. and Mrs. John Burns.
These are excerpts from his speech at a recent dinner
to benefit the March of Dimes.
