Last week wasn’t an especially good one for me. Firstly, I
was sick and secondly, the battery in my talking watch died. I suppose that the
combination of both of these things plus the fact that we were away from home,
all served to make my week quite miserable. The part about being away from home
was significant in that I wasn’t able to go to my regular watch repair person
to have a new battery fitted. I hadn’t realized just how much knowing the time
meant to me. Being unwell, I slept a lot. When I woke up, I had no idea of the
time and whether or not I was due to take my next lot of medication. I’m sure
that Lyle became tired of my constant query as to the time of day or night.
The week did bring to mind stories told to me about the
first experiences of some people who had newly lost their sight. When you can’t
tell day from night, does it really matter what time it is?
I especially remember Gerry. Gerry lived alone and his loss
of sight was quite dramatic – overnight in fact. When he went to bed one night
he could see – poorly for sure, but he could see. When he woke up the next
morning, he saw nothing. As well as the initial depression, Gerry told me that
for the first while of his vision loss, he had a hard time thinking about the
difference between day and night. He would wake up from sleeping and not knowing
what time it was, he might decide to go for a walk. The telling of time was simply that if there
weren’t people on the street where he walked, he presumed that it was night
time. These days, Gerry uses a braille watch to keep track of the time. He is
also a working person and his days are regulated by the schedule of a working
week.
After my bout of illness, I am feeling much better. Lyle and
I are home again and Todd, my reliable watch repair person, has fitted my watch
with its new battery. We also have a chiming clock in our house and I have a
talking clock on my night table. These small miracles of sound are invaluable
for someone who can’t see the face of a watch or the numbers on a clock.
This is also Easter weekend, so spring greetings to
everyone. Even though there is still snow on the ground, surely spring is just
around the corner!
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