The Path Forward

Homer is receiving therapy at the hospital in New York City to recover from his brain surgery and get his motor skills back on his right side. While he does, he tells stories to the kids in the pediatric ward at the hospital and to Wilbur and his friends at the ballet school. When Sam contracts polio in the spring, her right leg becomes paralyzed and Dr. Wulfers tells Sam that she may never be able to use that leg again even after she recovers from the polio fever. Jamie presses Dr....
More Description

Homer is receiving therapy at the hospital in New York City to recover from his brain surgery and get his motor skills back on his right side. While he does, he tells stories to the kids in the pediatric ward at the hospital and to Wilbur and his friends at the ballet school. When Sam contracts polio in the spring, her right leg becomes paralyzed and Dr. Wulfers tells Sam that she may never be able to use that leg again even after she recovers from the polio fever. Jamie presses Dr. Wulfers for another solution and she tells him of an Australian nurse who claims great success working with young polio victims. Dr. Wulfers finds an aborigine woman in New York City visiting from Australia who knows the method and she begins working with Sam attempting to overcome her paralysis. Sam¿s aunt and uncle react badly to her condition and treatment so Sam decides to go back to Iowa to her Aunt Lilly¿s to try and learn to walk again. Sam surprises Jamie by telling him that she wants him to teach her how to farm. As Sam gets ready to go to Iowa, Jamie and Homer learn of an accident on their farms. Homer¿s father, Aaron was badly burned and Jamie¿s father killed. Everyone plans to return to Iowa for the funeral and so Jamie and Homer can work keep their farms running. When they arrive home in Iowa, Mrs. Lilly proposes that the families combine their skills and resources to form a farming business called Otter Creek Farms, Inc. With difficulty, they get a business loan from the bank and the farming corporation is born. With Emily¿s help, Sam learns to walk again and as Sam grows stronger, she decides to have a debutante ball at her Aunt Lilly¿s as a way of thanking everyone for their help and encouragement. At the dance, Jamie and Sam begin planning their future together.