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Equally enthusiastic
were Sally's fellow singers, who accorded her a warm welcome from
the day she first got up before them and broke into song. "She
proves that you're never too old to do what you want to do,"
said Ellie Rubino of Babylon, another workshop participant. Life, obviously, has
not been easy for the Millers. Their daughter, Wendy,
afflicted with a degenerative eye disease, was left blind by the
age of 7. The couple devoted years to "fighting the system"
at a time when children with disabilities like Wendy's were not
mainstreamed into the public schools."Some parents didn't want
their children introduced to something they didn't think of as quite
beautiful in life," said Sally. Ultimately, the Millers
prevailed and Wendy attended public school. She graduated from Huntington
High, where Merle was a teacher, and went on to undergraduate and
graduate school. Today she is a psychotherapist. Throughout much
of Wendy's schooling, her parents recorded her lessons on tape to
assist her. In the early 1990s,
when Terry and many of his friends were diagnosed with AIDS, some
did not have the comfort of family. The Millers became "everybody's
family," visiting hospitals and nursing homes to do what they
could. "I figured it was
my job," said Miller, who today speaks at public schools, colleges
and churches about the disease and how it is contracted. "It's
hard to say this, and I can't say I've been enriched by some of
the troubles, but what an interesting life I've had with Terry and
Wendy." Last year, Sally underwent
chemotherapy for liver and lung cancer. Twenty years ago it was
uterine cancer, and 30 years ago, she had massive surgery to eliminate
breast cancer. Because of the breast surgery, she was never again
able to wear anything but a high-necked outfit. So, when she walked
out onto that stage the other evening, she wore a "smashing"
two-piece black ensemble with rhinestones from neck to toe and slit
"up to here." "I've had this dress for six years and only worn it once before," Sally said. "When I see a dress that covers up everything that I need covered, I buy it. I always figure the occasion will find me."And this was the occasion.
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