Category: Vision

I was recently asked to present at an upcoming meeting of an accessibility advisory council that I am a member of, to share my story and my writing. I was grateful and excited for the opportunity, immediately beginning to jot down bullet points of things I wanted to say. From…

Driving around Salt Lake City recently, even with my lack of much sight I was able to recognize an area of the city from a business trip I had taken back in 2002, ten years before I woke up blind. Passing a Marriott with a long driveway and several flagpoles…

My husband and I often marvel at the fact that Piper doesn’t have arms. His feet are his feet and his hands. We never tire of watching him. We often joke about him being unarmed, as was the case one recent day. “My gosh, Piper, you have made a big…

Going through the pictures from a recent trip, one showed something on the road. “Is this a porcupine?,” I asked my husband, even though I was sure it was not. He came over to look. “No, I don’t know what that is. Part of the brush on the side of…

Living with a disability requires a lot of adapting in order to do even the most ordinary things. For instance, I use my sense of touch now for things that I used to be able to see, like filling a glass with a liquid or setting the oven temperature dial…

I always wanted to get my motorcycle license and thought I had plenty of time to at least take a course to see if I really liked it. I spoke about it so often that my toddler nephew, now 20 years old, used to tell me, “Motorcycles are dangererous, Auntie…

Arriving at a restaurant for breakfast while on vacation, my husband looked for a place to park. Located in a residential neighborhood with no parking lot, the only thing you could do was drive around until you found something on the street. It didn’t take Mister Rain long to see…

For Part 1, click here.   Getting out of the rental car at Bonneville Salt Flats, my sneakers crunched on the salt crust. The appearance of the bright white surface screamed ice and snow despite the 93-degree temperature. Walking a few feet from the vehicle, I reached down to feel…

One of the places I feel the most visually impaired is in an airport. No matter the location – in my aggressive home airport of Philadelphia or the much more chill vibe found on the other side of the country – fellow travelers either don’t see (that’s ironic) or ignore…

Let’s talk about something you know but you can – wait for it – lose sight of: What you don’t know. You know? When  my vision loss occurred, although I received excellent medical care, I was not provided any resources for coping with my new life. It would be several…