This morning I was having coffee with a friend who had only recently begun to use a cane. She spoke about how difficult it was to carry both a purse or handbag and to also use her cane. The conversation reminded me of my early days of white cane use.
When my sight first changed, I had been one of those people who carried everything in a large handbag. The kitchen sink wasn’t in it, but with the weight of the bag, it might as well have been. At that stage I wasn’t using a cane but I wasn’t driving any more either. I used to joke that when I couldn’t drive and so needed to walk to work and appointments, the first thing I did was to buy a good pair of walking shoes. However, when I walked, the weight of the bag I carried became quite onerous. It didn’t take too long before I began sorting out the inessential items that I was carrying around.
Then came the time that I started to use a white cane. Anything else that I carried in the other hand seemed to throw me off balance so I switched from a hand held bag to a back pack. Once again, the weight of the items in the backpack seemed way too heavy. I found that I could eliminate even more items from those I had thought necessary to carry around.
Eventually, even the weight of the backpack became too much for every day use. These days, unless I have a specific purpose for carrying more than my house keys, some form of ID, my cell phone and perhaps a few coins for coffee, I tend to wear clothing with big pockets. If I do need to take anything else, I try to find the smallest day pack or fanny pack that will accommodate the other items.
All this has come about in stages, but I now wonder whatever it was that I used to carry around in that big handbag. Today, the most essential piece of carry equipment that I use is my white cane.
Thursday, 20 June 2019
Sunday, 2 June 2019
June 2 - Supporting Guide Dogs
Last weekend I participated in a walk to
raise funds for Guide Dogs of Canada. This is a Lions project and in our area
the walk has been going on for the past seven years. While seven years presents
the local picture, the national one is broader and of a much longer duration.
Thanks to the Lions, people who need the services of a guide dog can apply to
Guide Dogs of Canada and receive both the dog guide and the training free of
charge.
Now, at this point in time I don’t feel
that I need a guide dog, so why did I participate in the walk? I think that my
inspiration comes from a family I met several years ago.
In 2012 when I was doing my walks across
Canada to promote an awareness of the significance of white canes, I met a
family in Kingston, Ontario. The family, two parents and three young boys, came
to the walk to support me. Of the three
boys, the youngest was completely without sight and one of the other boys was
quite visually impaired. Truly, this family faced many personal challenges and
yet they had come to support me.
The dad explained that he felt it was
important to support organizations and endeavours outside their own issues. He
then insisted that I take $20 towards my personal expenses. I was quite humbled
by this man’s positive and generous attitude, an attitude that was obviously
shared by his wife and was being passed on to his children.
The common bond between us was that of
vision loss. My own challenges of partial sight actually seemed trivial in
comparison to the hurdles that were facing this family. Yet, they still managed to reach out in
support of someone else. That I was a stranger to the family of five melted
away with our shared bond. I have kept the memory of them all over the past
seven years. They are part of the reason I feel motivated to reach out.
I was quite pleased when two friends and
others of our local vision loss support group also participated in last weekend’s
walk in support of guide dogs. Below is a picture taken of four of our support
group members. From left to right: Irma, Sue, Carol and Vern.
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| Sue with Irma, Carol and Vern at the walk |
You can learn more about Guide Dogs of Canada on their web site.