It was the first time I noticed that My Blindman decided he needed to make a decision based on his diminishing eye sight. In the past Deano never let anything lick his spirits but just this one time he knew that his sight was putting other people at risk and knowing this was not okay he handed in his notice ...even if it meant rearranging our whole lives and uprooting the family from the country town and go back to university on a mission to retrain.
This would be just house move in a series of 19 house moves over the period of 25 years, mostly made so we could redesign our lives to fit in with the changes happening to Deano's eyes and career choices. Whilst back at university with the announcement of a significant first home buyers grant most rental leases were only allowing a three month stay due to the requirements of the newly acquired owner to qualify for the grant must live at the property themselves for a year before returning it to a rental status. Being that this was a study faze in our lives we were unable to purchase a home in this time and were forced to move home many times in a short window of duration to keep a roof over our heads. In this time Deano became an expert furniture removalist. With enlisted the help of family and friends we made our moves form one house to another. With one person guiding at the front My Blindman would follow their lead and trail with the tail end. We had many different friends we would call on to help us move and so each time our pals were amazed with the agility and strength of Deano saying nothing stops this guy.
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| Daughter number one climbing our backyard trees |
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| The girls hitching a ride at a friends property in Northern NSW |
In hoping there are not too many more moves for the rest of our lives, I reflect on the outcomes of each move and find that it wasn't that bad at all. It helped me clear out sooo much junk we had acquired and made life more interesting discovering new kitchens to use, new neighbourhoods to walk, new backyard trees for the girls to climb, new pets to take care of,(one house was on a sheep farm) meeting new neighbours (one of which we loved so much we named our fourth child after her) Each time we moved it was a new adventure.
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| Friends in Northern NSW |
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| Life Long friendships have been made through us moving house |
Perhaps the biggest obstacle with moving when you are blind is rediscovering the layout of the new property and committing that to memory. Having to remember where and how many overhead cupboard doors there are in the kitchen for example is important to a blind man. These are usually just at his forehead height so if left open Deano would often walk away with a head wound that would make him look like he has been bashed at a bar the night before. Or having to remember where he had placed the lounge or dining table setting so he did not fall over them when moving about the place.
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| Daughter number 3 and her cousin from Northern NSW |
Our time here on earth is only short and while some may focus on the trials in life. Having to rearrange life to suit an ever changing circumstance like going blind might not be considered exciting for most I have chosen to take this journey with my husband...probably not really understanding the full commitment I was making when I said yes to marrying him at the tender age of 18. We have decided to find happiness wherever life takes us.
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| Friends from Tamworth |
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| Friends from Brisbane |
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| Friends from The Redlands and a couple ring ins from Melbourne |
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