PALM BAY, Fla. – When Ryan Meyers and his wife found a stack of old papers, stapled together, in a filing cabinet inside their home in Palm Bay, they were intrigued.
“My wife handed it to me and said it belonged to me,” said Meyers. “I have no idea what this is.”
Meyers could see the pages were decades old by the faded ink and brown spots, but when he looked closer, he saw there was a story.
The title was faded but it read “Karen,” by Marie Killilea.
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“I’m intrigued with history. So, When I saw this, I know it’s family history and I love my family history itself,” said Meyers. “So, I knew that somebody out there is going to want this part of their family history in their possession.”
He definitely was not going to just throw it away.
“What most people would do is just, ‘OK, throw it in the garbage,’ but I wasn’t that way,” said Meyers. “I wasn’t going to do that.”
So, Meyers started thinking, and he started researching.
“My wife is really from Connecticut, so we thought maybe it got into her possession somehow,” said Meyers.
And, then he reached out to News 6 to ask for our help.
“I ran into some dead ends, and that’s why I turned to Channel 6,” said Meyers.
It turns out “Karen” by Marie Killilea is a story about a family who has inspired thousands to overcome the odds.
Marie Killilea wrote the story about her daughter, Karen, who was born three months premature and developed cerebral palsy. The memoir shares how she defied her disability and lived an extraordinary life.
Kristin Viltz is Karen’s sister.
“It was a bit odd growing up and having your mother’s book about your sister being required reading for my class,” said Viltz. “Between my mom and my sister and my family, it’s such a unique story and really was impactful, especially during the 60′s and early 70′s.”
News 6 reporter Catherine Silver spoke with Viltz, who lives in Illinois, about her family and their legacy.
“What we often said was she wasn’t supposed to live 80 minutes, let alone 80 years,” said Viltz.
Viltz says her sister never saw herself as “handicapped,” and instead thought of herself as “permanently inconvenienced.” Despite her limitations, she lived independently at her home in New York, and as an adult, she worked as a receptionist for the Trinity Retreat House.
Viltz recalled how Karen traveled to Italy and met with Pope Paul VI twice, and he remembered her.
“She went and met him,” said Viltz. “She went back like 8 years later and he came up and remembered her because my mom had sent two books to him, autographed, about Karen. So, when she went back for another viewing with him, he came right over to her and recognized her.”
When she passed away from a respiratory condition in 2020 at the age of 80, the New York Times wrote an obituary about her life.
Karen Killilea and her mother’s story about their family changed the world’s perception. After it was published in 1952, thousands of people wrote letters to the Killileas because they were inspired by Karen’s parents and her story.
“They lived their life with Karen and supported so much of the improvement and the way cerebral palsy was perceived because back when Karen was born basically my parents were told back then, you know, you kind of find a place for them and forget you even had them,” said Viltz. “And my parents could not accept that. My mother decided to take up the challenge.”
Viltz recalled memories she had of her mother when she was writing.
“I remember sitting outside my mom’s office and listening to her clank away on the old-fashioned Smith Corona typewriter that she used to write all those books on,” said Viltz.
The pages found by Meyers were clearly written on a typewriter. But could they actually be written by Viltz’s mother?
We sat and spoke with both Viltz and Meyers to see if there could be any connection.
“I was intrigued just as much as you were to find the owners of this transcript,” said Meyers. “I had no idea at all how it came into our possession.”
So, how could these pages end up in Meyers’ possession all the way in Palm Bay?
“It could have been an estate sale,” Meyers wondered.
Meyers thought maybe there was a connection to his sister’s family who live in Connecticut.
“My sister Marie lived in Fairfield, Connecticut until she passed,” said Viltz.
Maybe there’s something else.
“It really is a puzzlement,” said Viltz. “Especially because I was thinking, from what I understand, my mom’s documents and a lot of her manuscripts and notes and communications, I think are archived at Notre Dame.”
“That’s very interesting because, in fact, I’m from South Bend, Indiana where Notre Dame is,” said Meyers.
Meyers thinks maybe it didn’t come from his wife’s side of the family at all. Maybe it came from his side, and he just didn’t know.
Maybe we’ll never know for sure who wrote the pages and how they ended up in Meyers’ possession, but maybe the story isn’t over.
“What do you think of this?” News 6 reporter Catherine Silver asked Viltz.
“I think it’s remarkable,” she replied. “It’s interesting. When I look at the paper and the typewriter print, it really looks like it’s something that would have come from her.”
We compared pages and phrases. Obviously, the book “Karen” is much longer and more polished. But the version Meyers found is definitely Karen’s story.
The ending includes some of Karen’s most inspiring words, “I can walk. I can talk. I can read. I can write. Mom Pom, I can do anything!”
“That’s Karen,” said Viltz. “She was probably the most optimistic person and powerful, powerful little person.”
Viltz says she would love to see the pages for herself, and Meyers agreed to send them her way.
“I’m just glad we can get it back to you,” said Meyers.
He admits he probably would have never known who Karen Killilea was if he didn’t have this discovery.
“More people are learning about Karen’s story. People, probably more my generation, remember how remarkable the story was,” said Viltz. “It’s nice to have it kind of bubble up again.”
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