Most of us have complete control of our five senses, but do we think of what life would be like without one of them?
The book “I Wanted to See” was written by Borghild Dahl, a woman who was blind for half a century. “I had only one eye,” she writes, “and it was so covered with dense scars that I had to do all my seeing through one small opening in the left of the eye. I could only see a book by holding it close to my face.”
But she refused to feel sorry for herself and to be considered “different.” She wanted to play hopscotch with other children as a child, but unfortunately, she couldn’t see the markings. She was reading at home, holding a large print book close to her eyes. She received two college degrees: an A.B. from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Arts from Columbia. University.
Borghild went on to teach in the small village of Twin Valley, Minnesota. Then she became a professor of journalism and literature at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She worked there for thirteen years, lecturing and giving radio talks.
Then when she was fifty-two years old, magic occurred as a result of an operation at the Mayo Clinic. She could suddenly see so much better than she had ever seen before. The woman discovered a new world of beauty from that moment on. She found it exciting to wash the dishes in the sink and play with the white suds in the dishpan. She spent hours watching the flapping of sparrow wings at the kitchen window as they flew through the falling snow.
Conclusion
Now stop for a second and realise… How lucky we are! You might ask: “Why?” Because we’ve been given precious gifts that Borghild Dahl was denied for most of her life. Let’s genuinely appreciate what we have, and we’ll see the world from another perspective!
