I’m proud to publish this post, the first from a guest blogger. It’s written by my dear friend, April Martin. April and I have loads in common. We both grew up in Alabama, we’re both blind and work Seeing Eye Dogs, we’ve both worked in the field of blind rehab, and we’re both married to…
I love hiking, I always have. I divide my hiking experiences into three groups; Hiking when I could see, Hiking when I couldn’t see but before I had a Seeing Eye Dog, and hiking now that I do have a dog. The third group of experiences are, by far, the richest and most rewarding. …
Late yesterday afternoon, I asked Jim to come outside with me to see what vegetables were ready to be harvested. Our garden is in raised beds and assorted barrels clustered around the greenhouse and easily accessible to me. Jim found two zucchini, an eggplant, a yellow bell pepper and a double handfull of cherry tomatoes….
A couple of weeks ago life at the Martin’s was fairly serene. Then we got a cat. The reason for the cat was purely utilitarian. We have mice. The last time we had a cat was when we lived in Maine. It drove me nuts. I kept sitting on the cat when I didn’t know…
Yesterday Jim and I were talking about chapter 17, the one about our wedding. I mentioned the kneeler I had chosen for the ceremony. “Wasn’t it perfect?” I asked. “Having that kneeler depicting Jesus’ first miracle?” “Yes,” he replied. “Hey, didn’t your father do that kneeler?” Surprised, I said, “You know, I had completely forgotten…
Blue hydrangias Our house sits halfway up a big hill or a small mountain, take your pick. As a result it’s tough for me to navigate to the many flowers and flowering shrubs that Jim and I have planted around the house. So Jim brings them to me. Yesterday he came in with…
Flash back to 1992. That’s the part of my life that I’m writing about now. Here is a part of Chapter 35, entitled, Winter on the Coast. At the time we were living on the coast of Maine. This is an excerpt in which I describe one of our cross country skiing experiences. *Begin excerpt*…
Kismet is nine years old. She’s been my guide for a little over seven years. I’ve retired three dogs before her so when she showed signs of slowing down I was dismayed. She was reluctant to get up and into the harness at work. Once harnessed she was slow to move out….
I awakened early this morning, bitten by the writing bug. Although I had taken a bit of time away from writing to learn to use my new web development tool I was still in the groove. As I wrote I was transported back to the time about which I was writing. I was there. I…
The Role of Peak Experiences in the Rehabilitation Process Written in 1999 When I was in graduate school at Western Michigan University I first learned the meaning of the phrase, “I WAS REHABILITATED!” That phrase is written in all caps with exclamation points flying. The occasion that prompted me to utter…