Fw: Signs of Life

[Guest guest]

Signs of LifeThis is an article from my hometown newspaper, written by a guy who

I went through school with - Kindergarten through 12th grade. He lived around

the corner from me when we were growing up.

I thought this was a great message. For all of us with a disability, not just

the blind.

Hugs,

Signs of Life

Signs of Life by Silva

A WORLD SEEN WITHOUT SIGHT

The boy walks past my house, the red tip of his cane hovering above the ground

ahead of him. Walking with him is a man who asks him questions: What street did

we just turn off of? What street are we walking on now? What is the cross street

ahead?

The boy is blind, if not entirely then at least severely sight-impaired. I would

put his age at 8 or 9. The man appears to be helping the boy paint a mental map

of the neighborhood.

I have seen these two walking past my house twice lately when I have come home

in the middle of the day to have lunch and check on my dogs.

As they pass, my dogs bark. My house has probably been sketched into the

landscape that the boy is drawing in his mind. This is the house with the two

big barking dogs, halfway down the block, on the north side.

I assume the boy is a student at the public school a block away and the man,

wearing an ID badge, appears to be an aide, helping the boy become accustomed to

making his way through the neighborhood. As they have passed, I have overheard

their conversation. The boy answers the man's questions briskly and brightly. He

seems smart, cheerful and resolute, qualities he will need in the world beyond

this quiet street.

But is it so quiet? I close my eyes and listen, straining to imagine the street

by its sounds. I hear the wind rummaging through the trees, the tinkle of a

neighbor's wind chimes, the distant yelps of kids at recess, the occasional

rumble of a passing car. A door closes, a bird starts off a power line.

It's a quiet street, not because there are no noises, but because the noises are

familiar, comforting and peaceful. I wonder if the little boy finds the same

comfort, or does every noise subtly remind him of sights unseen? Can you miss

what you never had?

He might have better questions for me: What do you miss when you think nothing

escapes your attention? What does sight make you blind to?

This boy does not see which house is large, and which is small. He doesn't know

a recent paint job from an ancient one, a brown lawn from a green one, a new car

from a clunker. A map of the world derived from sound and touch is less

concerned with surface aesthetics. The bird on the wire may not be seen, but its

song can be better heard, and doesn't that say as much - or more - about the

bird as its feathers?

No one would choose blindness. There is too much beauty to be seen, even with

all the ugliness. But sight can be overwhelming, deceptive and capricious. You

only can see what you look at, and sometimes not even that much.

It is very possible this boy can learn more about my street than I can. He can

" see " the world in a way I can't. This realization makes me thankful, not for

his blindness but for a society that makes accommodation for it. I'm thankful

for the man who walks with the boy. If these are my tax dollars at work,

directly or indirectly, I'm glad for it.

Making room for this boy is not just the right thing to do; it's also the

selfish thing to do. Help him now and who knows who he will help later. Show him

the way along this street, through this neighborhood, and he may show you the

world some day.

Helen Keller, undistracted by sight or sound, once said, " I am only one, but

still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And

because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can

do. "

What is life for but finding the something we can do, for ourselves and others?

The boy walking down my street will find his something, and so will all of us if

we take the time to listen, to our own voice and each other's.

Make a map in your mind of the world, as it is and as you want it to be. Take a

walk, ask questions, seek answers and do the something that you can do.