August 10 - Kingston, ON

What a wonderful morning we had in Kingston today! The little reception area at CNIB was crowded with well wishers and supporters of the White Cane Connections project. Several CNIB staff were present along with Elliot from the local newspaper. One surprise supporter was Myra, who is the mother of a friend back in Ponoka and I hadn’t known that she would be coming.

We were also joined by Tony, Cindy and their three sons – Joshua, Noah and Nicholas. What a delightful family.  Nicholas was the youngest of the three boys, and at age four now holds the record of the youngest white cane user to walk with me.  Nicholas was born without eyeballs and I have nothing but admiration for the whole family in the way that they have adjusted to this unexpected predicament. They in turn have nothing but praise to offer for the support they have received from CNIB. Certainly there may be future hurdles to overcome, but at this point in time, their attitude is positive and they are ready for whatever lies ahead.  Because Nicholas is so young we only walked a very short distance today in Kingston.

I have posted a picture of the apparatus Nicholas uses for mobility. It is a white rectangular frame with a small grip or handle along the top level. As he grows Nicholas will learn to use a regular white cane.