An Easter Story is a two-part Easter episode of The Waltons that debuted on CBS on April 19, 1973.
Plot[]
Olivia tries a radical polio treatment developed by Sister Kenny of Australia.
Synopsis[]
Olivia is stricken with polio after returning from church in February. When pain and fatigue turn into numbness and paralysis, she faces the prospect of permanent disability with courage. Meanwhile, Jason enters an amateur talent show, playing and singing a song which Grandma inspires him to compose with her housework: “The Ironing Board Blues”; he wins the contest and a new guitar. The family watch him perform, and back at home they reenact the contest for Olivia and Erin. When John-Boy checks in to apply at the University of Virginia, he seeks out a doctor who specializes in the treatment of polio, and he tells John-Boy of an unorthodox, experimental treatment. Olivia tries the exercises, against the realistic and pessimistic advice of the local doctor. At first, she has hope of recovery by Easter, but then she becomes discouraged and resigns herself to life in a wheelchair. However, shortly before Easter, she dreams that Elizabeth calls out to her for help, and she gets up out of bed without effort. She attends the Easter sunrise service on the mountain with her family, celebrating the apparent miracle.