Day 49: Mighty Mouse is in the House

What the general public know about Retinitus Pigmentosa we have found is really limited. It is a eye condition where pigmentation blocks the retina over a course of time. When and how long a person will keep their sight is unknown, a little like a ticking time bomb without a countdown clock. For My Blindman his sight was effected right from the beginning of his life. However he did have some vision as a little child and can remember watching cartoons on a  Saturday morning like any other Aussie kid in the 70's. One of his favourites was Mighty Mouse. He tells me he would prop a little wooden chair up just left of the TV set, about 1 foot away so he was up close and personal with the moving pixels before his face. 

As Dean got older his eye sight has slowly became worse with the pigments growing and blocking his vision. Deano still has residual vision in his left eye. Many a time sitting in the passenger seat in the car he can warn me of a car approaching in the left lane when I want to merge in that direction. He can somehow see the approaching lights without even turning his head in the direction of the vehicle beside us.

It has always amazed me that this little bit of vision is still in tact and believe it or not  it has has been life saving for one of our daughters when she was a toddler. Being a cash strapped young couple we had second hand and antique furniture in the house we were restoring. The high chair we bought was lovingly sanded back  by Deano with anticipation of the children who would be seated within it during meal times. It took a few weeks of preparation but it looked amazing once it was done. Being new parents it never crossed out mind to install a seat belt onto the high chair. 

 Having our oldest daughter use the chair without any hiccups it was a natural progression for us to have our second daughter sit in it during meal time. As I was feeding her the Australian favourite breakfast cereal, mushy wheetbix, I leaned over to wipe up the slop she had spat out on the floor. As my head was low to the ground I failed to notice the toddler had stood up I the chair. Deano was sitting on the opposite side of the chair assisting daughter number one with her meal when  his residual sight in his left eye noticed a child toppling out of the high chair in his direction. Like a black and white Mighty Mouse cartoon Deano's reaction to the situation was instantaneous. In a sudden moment without moving his head in the direction of the tumbling toddler he reached out with his left arm and caught the falling child by her little chubby leg with his strong hand just before her melon shaped head hit the timber floor boards. 

Yes I often wonder how our children have made it through to teenage years and young adult hood without too much physical damage. It's been a miracle and I have seen many over the years that have kept them in tact. I feel blessed that we have a God in all his mercy that has blessed us with a vision of the future even if this vision is limited it has proven to still be a blessing in our lives. We love and adore all our girls from the oldest right through to the youngest and with every trial weather that is sight related or not we know our Heavenly Father has sent them to us to take care of. We have always done the best we can and that is all He asks. Deano having reduced eye sight has just been another blessing that has made our family unique and that's a blessing in itself. 

PS As loving parents we did add a strap to that high chair. It was the only strap we ever gave our children. One of Deano's leather belts worked a treat to hold them securely and we never had a child topple out of the chair again. 

Child number 2 has her first birthday standing in the high chair