It has been just over nine years since I began my white cane walks across Canada. It has also been just over nine years since I first started writing this blog. The other day I was sorting through by collection of mementos from that time and I came across the page that listed my original goals for the white cane connections walks.
High on my list of priorities was a desire to connect with other people who were either blind or partially sighted. In the relatively small town where I was living, I knew of a few other people with limited sight, but at the time, I was the only one who needed to use a white cane. I wanted to meet other people with my shared background and to hear their stories. How did they cope? Were they living in isolation or did they have support networks in place? Were they new to the use of the white cane or was the cane a long-term mobility tool for them?
At the beginning of my journey, I wasn’t at all sure how I would make any connections at all. I was a CNIB client but CNIB upper echelons told me there were issues of confidentiality. This would prevent them from giving out names or contact information of other clients. My only hope was that each individual office would pass along my own information and route itinerary. Some CNIB Staff were super helpful and others were dismissive. I also contacted the national president of CCB (Canadian Council for the Blind) to enlist her support. This organization was very helpful in assisting me in making connections with other white cane users.
But that was just the details of planning and organizing my project. Success came when I was able to meet with those people who came to walk with me. I was fascinated by the stories they told and by the general air of enthusiasm when it came to spreading an awareness of the white cane and its significance.
Even these nine years later, some connections stand out for me. I walked alongside a four-year-old boy who had been blind since birth. I walked beside four people in their nineties. One woman encouraged me to come back the following year when she would turn one hundred. I walked beside several people who came with their guide dogs, and one woman with mobility issues and who accompanied me on her scooter. All were supportive and seemed to be pleased to be contributing to a project that would spread an awareness of people who needed to use a white cane.
However, I think that there was one connection that, for me, made the whole journey worthwhile. I was nearly halfway through my route in Ontario. As I chatted with one of the walkers in the group, I learned that this was the first time ever that she had ventured out of her home using her cane. Until that day, she had been apprehensive, nervous and even embarrassed, but the thought of walking with others who also used a white cane had given her the incentive and the courage she needed to take that first step.
I recalled my own first ventures outside my home using my cane. I had the same misgivings. I am glad that the white cane connections walks were instrumental in providing a pathway for this woman to begin her journey towards independent mobility. If the white cane connections walks touched the lives of others, my life was also touched by the people I met along the way. It has been difficult to make any connections in the past months of the pandemic, but 2012 was a great year for making white cane connections.
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