“Losing my vision was very scary, almost surreal.  I couldn’t believe it was happening to me…still can’t.  We all get down.  We all complain about our lot in life.  We all wonder why it happened to us.  You really have to bolster each other up.  When you’re up, you gotta help everyone else get up.

You really miss your vision.  You lose a lot of freedom.  All you do is sit around.  You have no purpose in life.  When you get up in the morning you’re like, what am I getting ready for?  Why do I put on make-up?  There’s nobody here to get ready for and there’s no reason ‘cause I‘m not going anywhere.  But you force yourself…you physically have to force yourself to overcome it.  It’s mind over matter.

People that are willing to help and support you and help you hold your head up is a good encouragement.  Your family comes to the rescue, which you never knew until you needed it.  My son, who’s eleven, it has been incredible for him.  It’s made him more understanding.  He’s very sympathetic.  It’s really helped him emotionally and maturity wise.  He handles this great!

I have totally grown.  I am much more accepting.  You know you think that you’re open-minded, you’re a good person, and you treat everyone the same…you don’t.  And then you realize now that you’re handicapped and see how people treat you, it really opens up your mind.  You’re more accepting, understanding, sympathetic of other people.  You’re open to everybody.

People that aren’t blind or visually impaired don’t get it.  They think they do…but they don’t.  I know I didn’t, but I thought I did.  Until you live it, you don’t get it.  Just like I don’t understand how my parents feel ‘cause I’ve never had a blind child.  Likewise, they don’t understand what it’s like being blind.

It was a real joy to bring my son to Camp Dogwood last summer.  It gave us time to spend together and bond.  It also gave him the opportunity to see others like Mom, to see that they got around fine, they had great attitudes, and everything was working out for them.  It gave him hope.”