Shelly Brady met Bill Porter when she was just a senior in high school. Porter worked as a door-to-door salesman and needed help delivering products to his customers.
Brady was excited about the prospect of making money while driving around in her family's car, listening to whatever music she wanted. She applied and got the job.
When Shelly met Bill, she noticed that something was different about him. His left hand was permanently clenched and held close to his body. His back was twisted and stooped, and he sometimes had difficulty walking normally.
Even with his physical difficulties, Shelly watched Bill work tirelessly, never taking a day off.
For a while, Shelly said nothing, not wanting to pry and assuming that Bill would tell her when he was ready. Finally, after months of working for Bill and no comment about his condition, Shelly worked up the courage to ask him why he was crippled.
"I have cerebral palsy," Bill stated plainly, without a hint of self-pity.
In "Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter," (New World Library, $20) Brady tells the incredible story of her boss and good friend, a man who refused to accept limitations.
"When I first asked him if I could write the book, he said, 'I'm just living a simple life. Who would want to know about my life? Why would anybody want to tell this story?' " Brady said in a phone interview from Portland, Ore.
Bill was born with a disease that makes his muscles rigid and tight, gives him migraines, back pain and the clenched hand.
During his birth in 1932, he became stuck in the birth canal, and doctors used forceps to extract him. Unfortunately, the means that saved his life also left him permanently crippled.
Doctors told Bill's parents that he would be incapable of supporting himself and encouraged them to have Bill institutionalized.
For the Porters, that was never an option. They felt that God had given them this baby and it was their responsibility to see that he became a loved, productive member of society.
The couple gave up the possibility of other children. Bill's father quit his job as a salesman and got work at an educational facility for handicapped children to learn as much about helping Bill as he could. Bill's mother was tireless in forcing, prodding and encouraging Bill to develop his weak, rigid muscles.
After Bill graduated from high school (at 22 because the state forced him to go to a school for mentally handicapped children, even though Bill's disabilities were physical), his father encouraged him to get a job.
He knew that the better Bill was able to support himself, the farther he'd get from a state institution.
After trying and failing at half a dozen jobs, Bill discovered his true love: sales. He loved talking with people face to face and providing them with ways to make their lives easier.
But an easy life was something Bill never sought for himself. For years, Bill woke up at 5:45 every morning to give himself time to dress and ride the bus to the district where he sold products for Watkins Corp. Bill's eight-hour-plus days began only when he got to his district, where he trudged to all kinds of houses in all kinds of weather.
Bill never complained about his disease or his job or anything else. "I have no obstacles," he'd constantly tell Brady and anyone else who asked.
Brady's association with Porter affected her outlook on life.
"If I'm having a day that's down, I think . . . about real people and real trials, and that just sort of lifts my spirits," Brady said. "And I can think of Bill as somebody who thinks that he doesn't have any obstacles in life. And if Bill doesn't have any obstacles, where does that leave me?"
With his incredible attitude, Bill worked his way to become the top-grossing salesman in Portland, the Northwest and the United States.
Following his example of tireless work, Brady spent the last year and a half working on her first book, while at the same time caring for a husband, who is an LDS bishop, six energetic children and Bill, as his personal assistant.
"It was definitely a labor of love, as Bill is definitely a part of our family."
Brady admits, though, that taking the time to write the book was a sacrifice for her and her family.
"There's that saying that you can do it all, but you know you can't," Brady said. "Sometimes there's Taco Bell nights instead of homemade mashed potatoes."
But Brady said she was happy to make the sacrifice to be able to share Bill's story with others.
"Like Bill's mother who told him, 'Bill, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to,' everyone can accomplish anything. We can look to others to lift us and inspire us."
E-mail: kwhitley@desnews.com