FB friends and family and anyone else.This year as I continue to get better ,which I believe most of you will agree that I am doing better.For the most part.I am still grieving the loss of my soul mate Chuck and will continue,except I am learning to get along without him in my everyday life, even though he lives forever in my heart. I am sure to have grief bursts along the way and thank the ones that have hung in with my healing which has helped by pouring my heart out on FB. I am thinking of making everyone more aware of vision loss.I will not dwell on my disease, it does me no good and is too complicated to mention. But total in my family are 5 loved ones suffering from the vision loss. Suffering may be a harsh word, there sure have been struggles with all of us. But we live everyday lives just like you.Most close to me know who they are but I will leave their names out of this. I have made huge strides without Chuck who enabled me for many years to live without many knowing how severe my problem was. So I aim to make everyone be at least a little more aware of vision loss. Many of my friends are experiencing some loss of vision as they get older.You dont have to be born without eyes, have Macular Degeneration( most common response to me),have your sibling poke your eyes out or Retinapigmentosa(sp) to be classified as blind .Actually our eyes are not the problem. We have Familial Optic Atrophy. In other words our optic nerves that carry the signal from your brain to our eyes suck. My main message is you dont have to see to have a successful life.Imagine being told you have this condition when your whole life is ahead of you. Well it happened to us. We still had kids, grandkids, shop, got married, went on vacation, etc. Life goes on.Just like ppl that have lost a limb. My gf and I have noticed that as I use my cane (especially in the West Bottoms,my fav hangout of late.TY Denise!) that people are better about holding the door,offering to help me,and warning me of a step.However they do roll their eyes as if to say WTH is she doing here? Well I still like to shop,I like to get out,I love Vintage stuff,and it is none of their business. lol A couple of times my ride (share a fare) is reluctant to let me out down there.Are you sure lady ? Youre kidding me? No I dont use my cane all the time.It is a pain and I can fall all by myself with or without it. But it has been a Godsend.I have had one for about 9 years and am reluctant to use it.It is more for your benefit than mine.Some ppl still dont understand what it means and will run over you regardless. It is a good tool to smak someone over the head with also. So if you have read this far I TY.If not I understand. I used to play Farmtown myself. I learn new stuff all of the time.I am glad to share with anyone that has questions and let you know there is help out there. I am going to share a little of the National Federation of the Blinds (NFB,not Nebraska Furniture Mart) newsletter. NFB - With a new Congress, our members across the country are poised to educate newly elected legislators about blindness and the barriers that prevent us from living the lives we want. In 2015 we will see our Braille enrichment programs expand to even more states and our continued advocacy for blind individuals will ensure that misunderstanding about the capacity of blind people does not create artificial barriers between blind people and their dreams. In 2015, we are certain that the success of our organization will continue to be reliant upon having a strong diverse network of blind people working together to make the world better and turn dreams into reality. One person at a time, we have established the most powerful network of information, resources, and support for the blind anywhere in the world. However, there are still blind people who are not yet connected. As you are reading this, a person has gone blind and is wondering what kind of future he or she will have. We need your help to get newly blinded individuals connected to the National Federation of the Blind so they will know that vision is not a requirement for success in their lives. Please make connecting blind people with the network of the National Federation of the Blind one of your renewed commitments for 2015. It is one of the most important things you can do, and it will have ripple effects that you will never know. Happy New Year to you! Graphic: Signature of Mark Riccobono Mark A. Riccobono, President
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:08:40 +0000
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