Playing the Blind Card - by Gayle Yarnall

I have always believed in playing the cards you are dealt. We don't really have any control over the dealer so we have to learn to play the hand. For example, if a woman is six feet tall, don't whine about how so many men are shorter than you are. Think about all those clothes that will look so much better on a tall person and think about the extra calories you can consume every day because you get to way more than a woman who is 5 feet 5 inches tall.

Well, I got dealt a blind card and I have spent 56 years learning how to play it.

My life has been better because I am blind. I truly believe this. If I had lived my life as a sighted person I would probably be "Miss Average". Not that there is anything wrong with being average. My parents were not very big on a woman going to college so I would have been married very young and never had thoughts of a career. I had a lot of usable vision as a teenager and marriage seemed like a good place for a low vision woman. When I was about 30 I became a single mom, and I was out looking for a job with no education and no training. My vision had deteriorated and I started to use a cane and learn Braille. This is when the fun started.

Here are some examples of how being blind are more fun

In 1988, I visited England for the first time with my sisters and my parents. We visited Stonehenge. The entire thing is roped off from the public. The stones are quite far back from the ropes. When we were standing, looking admiringly at them, a guard approached and asked me if I would like to go beyond the ropes. What could I say but yes. I could bring one person and my youngest sister wanted to go. The guard walked us to the middle of the stones and gave us a personal tour. He then said he really had something else he had to do. He walked away and left us alone in Stonehenge for 15 minutes. What a gift this was.

Once, a few years ago, a colleague and I were at a conference in California, we went to Universal Studios. We got there at about 2:30 and it was raining. This was our only shot at doing the roller coasters. The ticket guy said that we could get in free because the day was almost over. I think they were open until 6:00 PM. This was all the time we needed. The story gets better. Every time we approached a ride someone met and brought us to the VIP entrance. We zipped right through those roller coasters, some of them twice.

When we were in Paris we visited Versailles I was told I could touch anything I wanted. This included opening cabinets, lifting lids off dishes, touching ancient paintings. Imagine Versailles up close and personal. The best part is that the person who is with me gets the same privileges. I have been taken behind the ropes or on special tours in Hollered House in Edinburgh. I sat in the Mayor's chair in Saint Paul's. I hugged a statue in Queen Victoria's house on the Isle of Wight. This statue was carved from marble long before the birth of Christ.

I have flown an airplane in Germany, but not landed or taken off.

I have ridden on the back of a motor cycle in the black Forrest.

I rode in a Stanley Steamer at a car show in Maine.

I have white water rafted, Para-sailed, gone up in a hot air balloon and climbed a glacier.

I have held or petted an entire zoo full of exotic animals.

I honestly don't think I would have had half this much fun if I were sighted. People really get excited about showing things to a blind person. Artists like to have their work touched. Gardeners like to have their flowers smelled.

I met a guy on an airplane who really wanted to teach me how to rock climb. I had a tough time convincing him I did not want to rock climb. He just knew he could teach me, and I knew I did not want to learn. Life has been good. I still wish I were taller so I could wear all those cool tall person clothes.

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