The light is on.
A short story.
Written by Samantha C Sinclair
Author of The Call For Emily.
Malory ONeil sat at her farm house style kitchen table. Her husband Gary had kissed the top of her head, and left for work. Having the farm style touches in the home was nice. Living in the city brought easy travel and other accommodations for Malory. But she missed the simple ease of country living.
Her 13 year old daughter Lucy, and two year old son Camron still slept upstairs. In thirty minutes she would need to wake the children. For now, Malory sipped her coffee and listened to her audio Bible. She felt some syrup drip on her arm from the pancake she was eating. She quickly cleaned it off, washed her hands, and felt to make sure none made it onto her clothing. She had a presentation at work today.
She woke Lucy first.
“Momma, I need help with my blush.”
Her daughter was all girl. It had taken Malory months to learn how to put on her own makeup. Helping her daughter was a fun challenge. Lucy would sometimes guide her mother’s hand, or watch in the mirror telling her which way to go.
Next, she woke her full of life toddler. Cam was bursting with energy of a new day.
Once Lucy was out the door, and on the school bus, she and Cam headed out. The city bus stop was two blocks from their front door. Cam had long out grew the baby carrier on her chest. Now she carried him on her hip, her bag on the other shoulder, and a diaper bag on her back. In her right hand was her white cane.
She boarded the bus, got off at Cam’s daycare stop, and walked the remaining block to her work.
It was a two story building. Oklahoma Work Readiness For The Blind and Visually Impaired buzzed with excitement for the day.
Today was when high school students,parents, and administrators would gather to learn what possibilities awaited. She went straight to the conference room where the meeting was to be held. She prepared her computer, laid out her braille notes she had typed on her braille type writer, and went over all steps in her mind. She wasn’t the top notch at technology, but this place had given her the training she needed.
A couple hours later, the room was filled with wondering eyes. She could feel each pair on her as she walked to the front.
“Hello. Thank you all for being here today. I would like to first introduce myself. I am Malory ONeil. I am a home owner, wife, and working mom of two. My daughter is 13, and learning to put on makeup. My little son is two, and we are going through the challenging twos. Yes it is true we put squeaky shoes on our littles. We teach them to answer when we say their names, and I have a fenced in back yard. If we are out just me and the kids, I have my son on my hip or his hand in mine. My daughter still holds onto my arm so I know where she is. Sometimes she carries or holds onto her little brother. Cooking is now fairly easy for me, if I am in my own space. I may do something different but that’s alright. I say this to make the point you can move forward even with visual challenges.”
She paused to change the picture on the screen for those with vision.”Now, what we do here at Work Readiness For Blind and Visually Impaired. We do technology training, help you find training for jobs, help with career placement, and more. We even do cooking classes, I teach one of those. We also teach daily living, such as house cleaning, bill paying, budgeting, and help learn to use public transportation. We can also provide cane and mobility services such as a white cane. These services are for low vision, legally blind, and blind individuals.”
She switched the text on the screen once again. The device in her ear told her it was the wrong image. Her sighted supervisor Misty came to the front, and corrected the mishap.
“This might look like a mishap. I just wanted to make the point it is okay to ask for, and welcome help. It doesn’t make you weak, or mean that you are a burden. It just means you are human. Thank you Misty.”
On her ride home with Cam, she replayed the questions today.
“How did she give medicine to her kids? How did she get her kids place to place. How did she do laundry with stains? … “
She looked forward to the next days event. It was strictly for spouses or significant other, teachers, parents and or other family members, and care givers of blind and visually impaired persons. Both youth and adult. Some of the same questions would arise, and some new questions.
At home, she prepared a quick supper for her family, answered some home work questions from her daughter, fixed a broken truck for her son, and tied a tie for her husband. She buckled Cam into his car seat, as her husband and daughter got in. She slid into the front seat, and they headed off for revival at their small country church thirty five minutes from home.
Her life was blessed and full of joy, even if she couldn’t tell the light was on.
SamanthaCSinclair.com 