Carolyn Bigham, 19, was just out of high school when she suffered an attack of meningococcic meningitis an inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord. The disease left her memory so clouded that she could remember almost nothing of her life. She had to start school all over again in Charlotte, N.C., beginning with the first grade, until finally she could remember enough to graduate from high school again (TIME, July 9, 1951).
During her recovery, Carolyn received hundreds of letters and get-well cards from sympathetic Americans. Among them was a card and a handkerchief from Gwyn Glenn...