My TB Journey

Millie was born and raised in Winthrop, Massachusetts, alongside her parents, her brother George, and her two sisters, Barbara and Virginia (affectionately known as Ginny). At just four years old, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis in her hip—a diagnosis that changed the course of her childhood.

Due to the severity of her condition, Millie was sent to live at The Peabody Home for Crippled Children, where she would spend the next ten years of her life. What followed was a childhood shaped not by playgrounds and birthday parties, but by institutional walls and a system that, by today’s standards, would be considered deeply traumatic.

This is her story—a glimpse into the resilience of a young girl growing up in a place that tested her spirit, yet never broke it.