Guard and Visual Memory

So it turns out that I have no visual memory. Imagine getting to the end of a paragraph of text, and you have no idea what the beginning of the paragraph said. 

School was full of that kind of thing for me. I would read and re-read and re-read, sometimes for 20 minutes - the same paragraph and still have no clue what I had read. It was so frustrating. 

I had been a ballerina from about 2nd or 3rd grade through my junior year in high school. I loved it! 

My sophomore year in high school, I went to try outs for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I wanted to be one of the dancing fairies. I figured I had enough dance experience and I could do it. 

They showed us some choreography out in the hall. And I just KNEW I wouldn’t be able to learn it so quickly. They gave us about 20 minutes or so to work it out with each other. I didn’t know where to turn or how to get help. 

When we got on stage, I missed a turn or did the wrong thing. Then I blanked out. Then I ran backstage and just started crying. I was hysterical, frankly. I was so discouraged. 

Some really great gals came and told me to try again. They were so re-assuring. I knew I had messed up. And I knew I couldn’t do better. I knew other gals on that stage deserved to be able to be those fairies and I would flub it up. 

I didn’t go back out. I ended up doing makeup for the production. When the next production came out - “Little Shop of Horrors,” I played keyboard for it. (I’m a musician too.)

So, now I am a mom of two teen boys. My older boy has been a competitive dancer in his past. He is amazing. He learns choreography the first time he sees it. He always has. He amazes me. It must be so wonderful to see and understand something the first time you see it. 

He hasn’t done competitive dance for a while now. But he is a senior in high school and has discovered guard. 

Tonight, I went to a rehearsal for their upcoming competitions. I got to take photos of the kids. 

My son has told me that when the coach shows them new choreography, the coach tells the students to practice, and the coach walks away. The students turn to my son and he teaches it to them. 

He has visual memory. That’s amazing. I am so glad my son doesn’t have to deal with my disabilities that frustrate and drain my energy all day, every day. I am so tired of fighting to do things, and others do them so easily. And it’s because my eyes just don’t take in what others can see so easily. 

Please don’t ever take your own eyesight for granted. It’s a valuable tool. Worthy of being appreciated. 

I hope you get to see many beautiful things today, and maybe these photos of my son will be one of those things.

 

I am a Guest Blogger Somewhere Else Too

I am a regular blogger on another blog. That blog is for folks like me who, once upon a time, identified as a Christian Scientist. https://exchristianscience.com/2019/03/10/i-never-received-childhood-vaccinations/ 

This is one is the recent posts I did on that blog. I also post there as "anonymous" and have written other posts too. 

One of our regular posts over there is on Thanksgiving Day; a bunch of us contribute every year. This year, I am sure I will be sharing my gratitude for vision therapy. 

In September, 2019, part of my story was in the Oprah Magazine. Here is a link to that story, too. I just felt compelled to give a bit more information about my background. 

A link to my story in the Oprah Magazine: https://www.oprahmag.com/life/health/a28703527/former-anti-vaxxer-moms-open-up/?utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=socialflowFBOPR

 

Prunes on my nose

When I was a little girl, I loved to watch the tv show, "Electric Company." It had a highly creative and wacky point of view on the world in many different ways. It came on after Sesame Street, if I remember correctly. I think it was Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, then Sesame Street, then Electric Company. I was told Electric Company was "for older kids."

One of the silly characters in the tv show sat on a bus stop bench for all of her skits. She wore glasses. I wore glasses. My dad wore glasses.

In one of the skits, someone sat down next to her on that bench. They were chatting about who knows what. The other person kept pushing their glasses back up on their nose. Finally, they asked the lady, "I see you don't push your glasses up your nose constantly. How come?"

The main character lady said, "I used to always push my glasses up on my nose, but I got tired of it, so I solved the problem."

The visiting character said, "How?"

The main character lady said, "I used prunes." And she showed how, underneath her nose piece of her glasses, she had two prunes. One on either side of her nose.

My dad LOVED prunes. He drank prune juice. I ate prunes and drank prune juice. I have a memory of him even making them by soaking plums in water one weekend. We were really poor. ::shrug:: so it was one of the things we ate.

My dad and I saw that skit together. He thought it was brilliantly, wackily funny. I agree.

My new glasses keep slipping down my nose. I love wearing them because they are actually helping me see better!! But I am getting tired of constantly shoving them up my nose.

Maybe I need to get a pair of prunes.