Lucky to be blind?

The other day I told a friend that I was fortunate to be blind. He was startled until I qualified this by saying I was fortunate to be blind today rather than back in the 1860s, the time when my great-grandfather was blind.

At 18 years of age Jefferson Coates was shot through both eyes on the first day of the battle of Gettysburg. He suffered for three days in the July heat laying in no man's land as the battle raged around him. It is a miracle that he survived in the days before antibiotics. Jefferson recovered, learned Braille and how to make brooms for a living. He returned to his native Wisconsin, married and drove a horse-drawn wagon all the way to Nebraska where he homesteaded, built a sod house, ran a farm and even served on the school board – all as a blind man. It's an amazing story of courage and perseverance.

I count my blessings for being blind in today's world. I have a wonderful seeing-eye dog that will safely walk me anywhere I want to go. I can listen to almost any book published on my phone or on the wonderful device provided by Blind Services. I can say a number to my phone, and it will read me articles from the local paper, the Wall Street Journal or any newspaper in the country.

I can communicate with friends all over the world on a computer that reads my emails to me and transcribes my replies by simply talking. I can pick up my phone and say, “call Jeff” and it will connect me with my son in Mexico. If I need to go to the doctor the local transportation company will take me anywhere in town for just two dollars. And I live with the expectation that if one of my grandkids ever goes blind, by that time they will have the medical expertise to replace a retina. What a wonderful world we live in!