In the Spring of 2009, the NFB of Connecticut announced a Writing Contest with the theme-"What I Like About Being a Blind Person". We received several excellent entries (keep an eye out in our Spring 2010 issue) and reprint the winning essay here.

The concept of whether I like or dislike being a blind person has never given me pause for serious reflection. Would I love to see the faces of my daughters or the smiles of my nine grandchildren? Of course I would! Have I wished I could view the heavenly universe with its stars at night, the bright sky, or springtime flowers? Indeed I have! But the reality is that I cannot see any of these things.

I accepted this long ago as a child of five when sight was first denied me. Perhaps this acceptance entrenched itself deeply in my psyche through the process of osmosis.

A loving family, school for blind children, a welcoming and forward looking college and university, conspired to build my self-esteem which ultimately led to my well-being as a blind person. The opportunities I enjoyed fostered feelings of usefulness and self-worth. Through them I could reach out to others and give back what I had received

Were it not for the positive direction in which my life unfolded I could have remained a helpless and dependent individual, unhappy with blindness and a burden to family and society. This was not the case.

I chose two significant ways to illustrate how faith in God and becoming Braille literate provided the motivation to reach my major goals.

A strong religious faith has lent itself to overcoming major obstacles inherent in blindness. Without faith no other achievement in life would have meaning. In addition to blindness, God willed that I deal with, and accept, a major hearing loss. Hopefully my core values have wielded a healthy influence on my family, friends, students, my clients and many members of the blindness community.

At the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind in Pittsburgh, I mastered the art of reading and writing Braille. This major accomplishment laid the foundation for my future education. With Braille, I gained much independence and success. I became a competitive student, competent teacher, practicing social worker, proficient proofreader, responsible mother of three, and a caring grandmother. As Grandma, I read stories to my grandchildren who did not seem amazed that I could read those dots with my fingers, but who simply enjoyed listening to "The Tickle Tree" or "The Five Little Monkeys". Can there be a more bonding experience? I could go on and on singing the praises of Braille and its advantages. I have described two of many areas which have made the condition of blindness more bearable, yes, and even comfortable.

In a word then, to be blind has not been the end of the world, but has led to the entrance to a whole new world, which, if I could see, I would never have known. Within this world I have encountered many people and demonstrated to them the joys and happiness of a person who just happens to be blind.

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