Hello, and welcome to our blog. S.J. Wells here with you this week, and I’m trying to come up with an entry to inspire you. It’s a cold morning here in WV. I think the temperature is 19 degrees Fahrenheit. As a homeschool mama, I’m finding it difficult to get going this morning, which makes it easy on my children to laze around and ignore me. Cold mornings make me want to stay in bed and think up new stories to write. Which, now that I think of it, reminds me of something.
I was in elementary school, and it was time to brave the cold and go to the bus stop. Mom fixed me a warm breakfast and a hot cup of coco. Then, when breakfast was over, she bundled me in my coat, pulled up my hood and tied it under my chin. She hurried me into the car with the heater running and drove up the hill to the bus stop. Just before handing me off to the aid who rode the bus to help those of us with disabilities, she laughed and wiped a motherly hand across my dripping forehead. “Look at you!” she said. “You’re sweating like a Sumer day!”
The Christmas season in elementary school meant fun. At the time, all of the children in the county who were blind or visually impaired went to the same school, where we had a teacher for the visually impaired along with an aid to help out. Our teacher planned activities rich in sensory details. One year I remember slathering one of those pointy ice cream cones in green icing and sticking sweets like chocolate chips and Frootloops to it. That was one, yummy Christmas tree. One time we went to a museum and felt wooden shoes. A few times she took us to a local church where our classroom aid was the organist and had the lady to play Christmas songs while we sang.
Lest you think she wasn’t giving us a rounded education, she also told us about her family’s tradition of celebrating Hanukkah instead of Christmas. She taught us how to play the dreidel game and to sing the song that goes with it. She told us all about lighting the menorah and what it meant. Even brought one in for me to feel.
Sometimes, Christmas for those who have recently lost their sight can be difficult. Family and friends talk of driving around to see the lights, and the blind person can not take part in the actual seeing part. Christmas cards in print are handed out everywhere, yet the blind person can not read them and feels left out. So, here are some things to keep in mind if you or someone you know is feeling this way this year.
- Christmas cards, as well as other types of cards can either be put in braille or bought in braille. Search the web, ask a blind friend for help or just buy a card with a tactile picture on the front and read the card to the person who is blind.
- Instead of concentrating on Christmas lights, how about Christmas music and Christmas scents? Or, even tastes?
- Instead of making your packages look all pretty, why not wrap your gifts with some imagination? If it is a small gift, put it in a bigger box, wrap and put in another even bigger box. Wrap up something silly in a pretty package, like a bottle of water or coke and make it fancy with a beau. Get creative.
- But, what should you get for someone who can’t see? Something they can feel, taste, hear or smell. Consider their likes and dislikes, as you would with anyone else and let it come from the heart.
Of course, you know both Anita and I are authors, and so we will always recommend buying books. But, this year, I have to toot my own horn a bit and let you know that my newest book, “His Yankee Wife” is now available in paperback and on kindle. Check it out on Amazon, and think of your reader friends when you do. Here is the link.
Also, Anita has a children’s book out, and if you are struggling with vision loss or have a family member who is, this book is just what you need this Christmas. It’s called, “A Brother’s Love”, and it’s available on kindle for only $2.99. Here’s the link.
From Anita and I we wish you all the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of Hanukkahs and a prosperous New Year. Be sure and come back on Dec. 28, as we have an edition of Interviews to Empower that will surely inspire you. If you are an alumni of WVSB, you won’t want to miss it, because there are some surprises.
Until then, be blessed, and remember the reason for the season…the one who was born in Bethlehem.
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