A friend of mine confided in me, “I have Albinism. It hurts when people call me an Albino.” Labeling someone is a way of not putting the person first. This is a good way to get off on the wrong foot. You may not even know you’re doing it, but you ARE. How can you…
Someone just found out that he has COVID. This is a horrible diagnosis to get. However, it was only made worse when his own mother told him if he went on a ventilator, she wouldn’t cry. She knew that he hadn’t been vaccinated and was unsympathetic. Have you noticed this type of discrimination? This is…
It was a beautiful fall day in early December. The trees were clean, some birds were singing, and the air was fresh and crisp. It was that time of day and I wanted to get ready for my bus early. I put some leftover turkey in the oven along with some yummy, butternut squash to…
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is love. This weekend we got to see love on display. My oldest son married his high school sweetheart. They had dated for nearly nine years. When we arrived on Thursday, we were all set to go. All we needed to do was organize some party favors for…
When I woke up this Monday morning, I was in a bad mood. I had stayed up later than I wanted to the night before. I had more to drink than I wanted to. I had snored at night. I could tell because my mouth was dry. I also know I snored because Connie had…
I should have known when this day started the bus ride was going to be difficult. My intuition would have been correct. For starters, I had some intestinal discomfort. Sorry for the mental image. Then I made myself a gourmet (kind of) breakfast and sat down to eat. It was then that I looked, at…
Picture this. You’re having a conversation with someone when, all of sudden, a group of blind teenagers starts coming at you. They’re all talking and tapping their canes. What would you do? Run? Hide? Say, “excuse me”? This was my first time at the school for the blind. The principal acted like it was nothing…
It was 7:20 PM and I was hoping to get picked up at 7:00. Here comes my driver. According to the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), he was on time. They have 30-minute leeway. Fair enough. He asked me if I was Brian. Then I asked for his name. It was Tom (name changed to…
When I first arrived at the school for the blind, they asked if I knew how to play chess. When I answered in the affirmative, they were excited. “Finally we have someone to play chess with Carl.” “Wait, who’s Carl?”, I asked. They explained that Carl had a form of autism and also was allergic…
Yesterday was a lot of fun. I had the chance to spend much of the afternoon with the students that inspire me the most. The students at the Ohio State School for the Blind. The place is amazing because of the people in it. Mostly the students. What they’re able to do with no or…
