Day 8: Freedom for some

The magic of the white wand. 
When we were newlyweds Deano, my blind man, faked it. Never to accept that his blindness was going to define his opportunities in life, this young man had just enough vision to get around without the use of the long white stick that most other blind people use for mobility. "Nope it's old crusty people that use canes" I supposed he thought when he in his youthfulness. So as a young adult the man of my dreams could manoeuvre  himself across a room without seeming like he was blind. I guess it was the masculine side of him coming out. When a man feels masculine the most is when feel he feels freedom. A cane was not going to give him the freedom that he so desired... so he thought. 

Cute girls learning to use the can at an early age

                                                                 Cane helps blind girls
When we went out he would hold my hand, and I would tell him how many steps were In front of us before we had to step up or down the curb, how many stairs we had to climb and which direction to turn are these were just the tip of the iceberg of instructions I had to think about. Train travel to work was an interesting new experience once we moved to the city. New instructions quickly became part of my repertoire. Directions like where the edge of the train station platform was and describing to him how high to lift his leg onto the train or how wide to step out over the crack was so he did not fall through. So many instructions, I felt like my brain was doing to explode at times. He's not dead yet so I must be doing okay.

When we bushwalked it was always interesting, and as I have already said it in a previous post I'm not the best at giving directions so imagine going through a bush track and trying to describe the landscape one step at a time..Big rock here, tree branch over head, duck your head now, roots of a tree, there is a slippery looking spot on your next step, watch the puddle over there, oops I mean to your left (the puddle was probably on his right) and it goes on.for For the entirety of  what is meant to be a fun day-time-date turned out to be a direction giving marathon...there should be an olympic category for this challenge 

Deano was the age of 30 when his older brother Lorin who is also blind encouraged him to go to cane training. With both men being born with a small amount of eyesight that diminished over the years it took them a while to accept they finally needed more help.

That cane changed my life literally. It was meant to be an improvement for Dean, but, how can I put this without sounding kind of self-centred. That cane gave me freedom. I could finally walk without feeling the need of excusing my husband for tripping over someone's dog, or child, or asking for forgiveness from people when my hubby almost landed in their shopping trolley. I remember someone commenting to me once as we walked down the street late one night that my husband was clearly drunk as he stumbled up as stair case. Interesting considering Mormons don't drink Nope these type of comments were over because finally the outside world could see a blindman carrying a white cane (even though he felt he didn't need it) to the rest of the world needed it. 

Cane training
 Amazing technology is being developed to assist the blind

The cane really does not help him how others think it would. It's more of a warning signal to the general public that my my blindman in denial is on his way through...I swear in the shopping centre that cane is like Moses parting the Red Sea. It is the wand of magical of power, especially if you are in the Christmas rush with a army of hurrying shoppers wanting to get their last minute Christmas buying done is a snap. Yes there are some benefits of having a blind husband...pull out that cane with one flick of the wrist the crowd moves aside as I guide my husband to the best buys within the store. There's gotta be an upside to every trial in life, even if it's just a little moment. I grasp any positives to feel good about a situation that is considered by most as a difficult challenge in life. Yep in and out in half the time. 

I have joked with him in the past that He is my zombie apocalypse plan. That cane can be used to beat any one off...made from metal tubing in 4 sections it is light weight held together by an elastic string...I am sure it would make a really good oversized  numb chuck if he had to use it to defend his damsel in distress. 

Over the time my blindman has learnt to embrace the cane. It really has brought a whole new dimension to hiking. We not only use the cane but we also have a tent pole stretch between us. Me holding the end against my hip and And my guy holding also against the rod on his hip. That way Deano can feel my movements up and over rocks or down over uneven footings and use his cane to tap to find the edge of anything that might trip him underfoot. Now even though I still give him some directions there is also time to talk to each other about the beauty around us, hear the banking streams and listen to the whip birds down in the valley. It would have to be one of our most favourite dates of all time apart from tandem cycling that is...but that's another story. 
The cane has been a cymbal of freedom for me as much as it for Dean and I for one will be forever grateful to its inventor. 

Deano and the blindman's wife with our friends taking a selfie on one of our hiking adventures this year