Interviews to Empower Presents: Ricky Richmond

Welcome to this month’s edition of Interviews to Empower. If you have never met him, then prepare to be inspired. Allow me to introduce to you Ricky Richmond who’s motto is "You gotta except  it's all right to ask for help if you need it; even sighted people need help.”

Q: Ricky, thank you for allowing us to interview you today. Tell us a little about yourself and your eye condition.

A: I was born in 1971 with congenital glaucoma and had my left eye removed when it exploded when I was only 3 months old. I didn’t receive a prosthesis until I was 11.

Q: Wow, that’s a lot of time to wait. Can you tell us about how you got your prosthesis?

A: Well, I was attending the school for the blind in WV, and my orientation and mobility instructor, Dan Oates took me to Morgantown, WV to get it. I am very grateful to Mr. Oates for the effort he made in finding the financial support for this procedure and insuring I get my eye which I still have today.

Q: So, you went to WVSB?

A: Yes. When I was 6, my family and I were eating at a restaurant when a lady with a son who was deaf approached us  and told us about the school for the deaf and blind. Later, my mom called and talked to the folks at the school, and they sent a representative out to talk to us. His name was Mr. Boner. My parents were nervous and scared at first, but my 14 years at the school was a good education.

Q: What was it like at the school for the blind?

A: Well, I participated in sports, like swimming, wrestling and track. I was in the show choir, which was called Pizazz. I also played saxophone in the marching band. I got to travel around the state and even go out of state for competitions. Once, the marching band went to Hagerstown, MD to perform in a parade, and another time we went to the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, VA. Another cool thing we got to do was participate in the skiing program. We got to go to Canaan Valley for 3 days to ski. I took Radio at the school, too and piano tuning.

Q: Did you ever go to public school?

A: No. But, I did take a psychology class at Hampshire High during my senior year.

Q: Speaking of your senior year, did you take a senior trip?

A: Yes. We went to Nags Head, NC, where I was first introduced to the beach.

Q: Earlier, you mentioned piano tuning. Can we talk about that?

A: Yes. I took piano tuning from 1986 to 1991 at WVSB. Francis Chillcoat was the instructor. After graduating in 1991, I went to the Piano Hospital and Training Center in Washington State. I lived on the third floor of the administration building at the Washington Schools for the Deaf and Blind. To pay for my room and board, I volunteered my time to help with the children at the school from 6 to 9 every evening. During my training, I learned to tune and repair pianos, though tuning is my strong suit. On Saturdays I traveled to schools and colleges where I tuned 1 to 2 pianos per week. I graduated in 1993 and was offered a position in Alabama, but they didn’t offer enough money, so I came back home to WV. In 1994 a music teacher approached me and helped me get my tuning business started. The blind man who used to cover that area had recently retired, so I accepted the Lewisburg/Alderson area, gratefully.

Q: And, you are still tuning pianos today?

A: Yes, I’m still tuning pianos. I do some minor repairs, as well, but major repairs require someone to bring heavy piano pieces to my house which this, as well as other costs would be too much of a financial burden for my clients. If I cannot repair the piano at the clients home, I usually suggest they just purchase another one, as used pianos can often be less expensive than the cost of restoration.

Q: Is transportation a difficulty for you?

A: No. My clients are real good to give me rides to job sites. I hire drivers, too. I work in homes, businesses and churches. Business has declined somewhat, especially after the devastating floods that hit WV in 2016, but I have had several busy years, and I’m hoping my business will rise again once people in the area have rebuilt their lives; I feel confident this is a possibility.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: Spend it with my family and friends. I have 2 older brothers and a younger sister. My mom and stepdad live in Virginia, but they come to visit often. Recently, a friend of mine suffered a stroke. I have learned from him what it’s like not being able to walk, and he has learned from me what it’s like being blind. We help each other. He helps me with things I can’t see, such as drilling wholes in my treadmill and driving me places. I help him by lifting things like bags of dog food into the shopping cart.

Q: You aren’t afraid to ask for help, then?

A: No, I’m not. Even sighted people need help, and you just gotta  accept, it’s all right to ask for help when you need it. You have to look at the situation and decide what needs to be done. For instance, I had to have a stove pipe replaced, recently in my wood stove. I had to ask for help from my brothers to get it installed.

Q: We could all take lessons from you in this area. Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: Yes. I just want to say that I have been a member of the At-Large chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of WV since 1994 and have been the treasurer of this chapter since 1998.

Thank you so much Ricky for allowing us to interview you for the blog. It has been a pleasure. And, thank you, faithful readers for being here with us. We hope you have enjoyed this months edition of Interviews to Empower, and we hope you are having an amazing holiday season. Be sure and come back on the 2nd Thursday of December, and the 4th Thursday for another interview to inspire you.

Blessings. 

An Update from Anita

Hello, and welcome to the blog. Anita here this time.

First, let me say that it is my fault we are late at delivering this month's blog. I turned 40 recently, and that means I'm getting old and forgetful, :) and so I left the thumb drive at work. I save the blog post on the thumb drive so I can then insert it into my iPhone and attach the post to an email I sent to S.J. So, my apologies. And, thank you, S.J., for telling me about flashdrives for iPhones. It makes it easier for me to transfer files to and from my iPhone and other devices.

I have been very busy since I last wrote to you here on the blog. For one thing, I attended the annual conference at the American Printing House for the Blind, or APH. While there, I was able to do a lot of networking with other people in the teaching field and with other blind people from all around the world. At the World Blind Union meeting, I happened to sit beside Mark Maurer, former president of the National Federation of the Blind, NFB, and Mark Riccobono, current president of the NFB. Networking is an awesome thing because this gave me an opportunity to speak to these gentlemen on a personal basis, and it was not at a convention. They meet many people, and so I am sure it is hard for them to remember all of the people they meet. But now, I have a stronger voice should I need one pertaining to any assistance I may need from them. Several members of the American Council of the Blind, ACB, were also present at this meeting. Lou Tutt, a member of from AER, was also present. While you are hearing me mention several educational organizations, remember I am a teacher. In your profession, whatever it may be, it is a good idea to attend conferences for networking purposes. This is how you gain a deeper knowledge in your field and a body of support that can prove invaluable in your personal and professional life.

While at the APH convention, I was also privileged to tour the printing house. I was surprised at all I didn't know about what they did, though I should have known it. I worked as a seamstress at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, or BISM, several years ago. APH was similar, though the type of production was different. We discovered how braille and large print books and magazines went through stages of processing before being printed. They used several embossers and printing machines, some of them enormous. We also stopped by the booth where an audiobook for the National Library Service, NLS was in the process of being recorded. To me, this was special because I listen to these books and I recognized the name of the narrator, Jack Fox. Also, I learned that the reader gets paid by how quickly they can accurately record the book rather than by how long it takes to complete the recording. At another place in this plant, we were in a huge room with worktables all around. Silent workers were working to assemble kits, for example, APH has a Jump Rope To Fitness Kit. Each item in the kit has a specific item number, and these specific bins with these numbered items were in another area just beyond this work area. I was also able to tour the APH museum.

While on this tour, I continued to meet people in my field, some blind like myself, but many with vision. While not attending meetings where I was exploring APH products and providing input on products and services, I spent my moments of spare time enjoying Louisville. I enjoyed a nighttime horse and carriage ride through the city streets and dining at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I also did a bit of shopping at the gift shop, where I purchased a horse. No, it wasn't real.

To move on to other things I've been doing since I last wrote to you, I was a foster Mom for about a month or longer. Due to needs of the child, I requested a different placement for the child, but I learned a lot. I also discovered that I live in a supportive community. This world is better than we think it is, if we choose to take the time to dwell on its good. Many friends and acquaintances stepped in to assist me. I had to make unexpected trips to the doctor's office to pick up prescriptions that could not be faxed to the local pharmacy. I had to go to Morgantown  for appointments. I had to have assistance each medicine time because, regardless of my level of vision, this job required two people, the key reason I requested another placement for the child. One day, I had to rely on a driver and friend to drive around between pharmacies and wait while prescriptions were being filled. Also, I had to make a number of phone calls pertaining to the child. Taking care of the child  at home was the easy part, though before I accepted the child, I figured this would be the hard part. Thank you to all who helped me during this time. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. When the right child comes along, I look forward to being so busy again, but I am thankful for my "me" or "Mommy" time in the meanwhile. :)

And, of course, I've been very busy at work. Our first nine weeks just ended, and I think it is the busiest nine weeks I've experienced in my five years at the West Virginia School for the Blind. But it has been fun and rewarding. The children have been busy learning my braille songs and working to build braille contraction knowledge. And, I've been busy planning their work and taking on extra responsibilities this year.

That is a brief snapshot of how I have been filling my days. Currently, I'm sitting on my couch, wondering if my Mom's birthday present is tucked out there in my mailbox. One of my cats, Tiger Lee is lying on the chair arm beside me, and I just heard my Mom get out of bed and wheel herself into my downstairs bathroom. She is spending the weekend out of the nursing home. I am having her a surprise birthday party tomorrow. Sue Smith, who used to be my night houseparent when I was a student at WVSB, owns a bakery. I called upon her to make my Mom a Mario birthday cake as she will only be turning 69 on November 15, which is this coming Wednesday. A breakfast walk to pick up food from the Romney Diner is calling and my cousin, Ruth Ann, who helped me tremendously with my foster daughter is hoping I'm awake to be ready when she gets here after while to take me grocery shopping. So bye until next post.

And, please remember to say "Thank you!" to all the Veterans you meet for what they've done for our country. Also, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, since it falls on the fourth Thursday of the month, our edition of Interviews to Empower will be posted the following Thursday, Nov. 30. We hope you will join us then. Thank you for being with us today, and we’re praying you have a fantastic weekend.

Blessings.