[Blindtlk] Christmas questions

[Graves, Diane]

Hi Guys,

I typically do not decorate for Christmas, but blindness isn't the
reason.  I also took part in this activity  as a young child.  It was
generally a family affair. (Seems like eons ago. ) (smile)

Anyway, the reason that I don't now is because we typically don't'
entertain that much, and my house is pretty chaotic as far as the way it
is arranged.  (not as neat as it could or should be.) Blindness isn't
the reason for that either.  Chalk it up to laziness, lack of energy, a
feeling of being overwhelmed, so on and so forth.
Anyway, if I had children, or did a lot of entertaining of family and
friends, I might feel more inclined to decorate.  

I have a great number of blind friends who do decorate though, so
blindness shouldn't be a reason not to do it at all.  Then I have some
blind friends who don't hold a lot of interest in visual effects that
they can't enjoy. People are all different.

Diane Graves 
Civil Rights Specialist 
Indiana Civil Rights Commission 
Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit 
317-232-2647 

 

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."--Winston
Churchill  


 

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr.
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 12:17 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Christmas questions


A most intriguing question; and, to tell you the honest truth of the
matter, 
one to which I had not given much thought of late.  To give you a strait

answer, no.  I don't put up a tree or lights; but, to be equally honest,
I 
wish I had them to put up.  IF so, I would.  Let me stress here and now 
that, as you yourself indicated Chastity, it has not a thing to do with 
blindness.  Rather, as Sherry indicated, it's got more to do with
multiple 
moves and the expense of the decorations.  For me, there's the very
curious 
additional difficulty of where to put all that stuff when I'm done.  My 
closet space is all taken up with blankets I'll never use, sheets and so

forth...and ETC.  As for the rest of my space, well, being a rat pack
who 
just cannot throw anything away...well...those of you who are rat packs
will 
of course understand exactly whereof I speak on this last point.  But, I

digress.  If I had a Christmas tree, it would, of course, be a real one.

You just cannot derive the smell of a REAL Christmas tree from a fake
one; 
just cannot be done.  The first Christmas I consciously remember was way

back when I was only four-years-old.  One of the first memories I have
of 
that Christmas back in 1969 was touching the real Christmas tree, seeing
the 
lights blink on and off (I had light perception back in  those days.)
and 
touching the sharp pine needles with my hands, touching the water in the

Christmas tree stand with the fingers of my right hand, if any needles 
dropped on the floor, feeling them with my bare feet if I stepped on any
of 
them (didn't hurt at all I assure you.) and, of course, the presents.
Then, 
of course, there was Christmas mass; always enjoyable.  As for what I
did to 
help decorate the tree, it was ALWAYS, (and I do mean always) a family 
affair.  Everybody pitched in.  How well I recall my second year in 
Kindergarten.  That was important too because Mrs. Levy (pronounced
"leevy") 
taught us to string Pop Corn.  That was one of the things we did to help

decorate the classroom tree.  When I got home, I did the same to our 
Christmas tree.  Sadly, however, after many moves on the part of both my

parents and me, neither one of us does a tree anymore.  I did buy a very

small table-top tree for my apartment; but, I've since lost it.

Sincerely yours,
The Constantly Barefooted,
Ray
Home phone and fax:
(985)853-0139
E-mail:
rforetjr at bellsouth.net
Skype Name:
barefootedray
Blog:
www.raysworld.blogs.com
Podcast .rss Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray

God bless President George W. Bush!
God bless our troops!
and God bless America
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasity0713 at charter.net>
To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 8:58 AM
Subject: [Blindtlk] Christmas questions


Hi everyone,

Recently, some discussions I have had with blind friends have brought up

some interesting points and opinions, and I am curious about some
things.

Many of you may know Tom Anderson from the CCB. I talk to Tom and Linda 
quite frequently. The other night, before Thanksgiving, we were talking 
about different things we do at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I asked if
they 
usually put up a tree. And they said no because they are usually in 
Minnesota with his family at Christmas or in Kansas with hers. Then Tom
made 
the point that, "Even if we were home, I don't think we would put up a 
tree." I was just curious and asked, "Do you think it's because you both
are 
totally blind and can't see the lights and decorations," and Linda said
yes. 
I never really thought that, and I guess it just came to mind right
there 
when she mentioned that. So I asked a couple more blind friends and they

don't put up trees and decorations either for the same reason. I'm not 
saying this is right or wrong. I just think it's an interesting
discussion. 
Then, another friend of mine who is blind asked what I usually do for 
Christmas. So we got to talking and I asked her the same thing. She and
her 
husband are both totally blind and they go all out with decorations and
the 
tree, lights and such, but they have two kids and now have
grandchildren. So 
that just made me curious about everyone's Christmas situation. Are you 
partially blind or totally blind, and do you go all out for Christmas or

not? Does anything such as having children or grandchildren have a
factor on 
what you do? For instance, maybe you probably wouldn't put a tree up for

yourself because you can't see it, but you do because you have sighted
kids, 
grandkids or family that come over.

Chris and I put up a tree each year. This will be our first year putting
up 
a big tree because we now have the space for it. Before, we had little 
apartments and used a short fiberoptic tree we put on our table. Now, I 
really want to go all out and get a six and a half foot artificial
pre-lit 
tree from Walmart.

I have to admit that this is the time of year when I am greatful to have

what sight I do have. Any of you who know me know I have no problems
with my 
blindness and that it doesn't hinder my independence or stop me from 
traveling or doing whatever I decide to do. But I just have to say I am 
really glad to have the sight I do have to be able to enjoy the
holidays, 
see the Christmas lights on the tree, see the lights on peoples' houses
when 
we drive down the road, see the first snowfall of each winter, the
houses 
and cars covered in snow, see the snowey Christmas scenes in Frosty the 
Snowman and Rudolph and all the other holiday movies, etc. I have to get
two 
inches from the TV to do that, but I can still see a lot of what's going
on 
if I get close enough. I have to admit, although the DVS version of
Rudolph 
describes everything very well, it still doesn't beat being able to see
it 
visually. Chris' parents go all out and their house looks like a
Christmas 
scene at the holidays. This year is the first time we will spend
Christmas 
with his family. I am really looking forward to seeing the lights and 
decorations. I have to say that if I lost my sight tomorrow, I wouldn't 
worry about anything related to my independence like traveling,
cleaning, 
cooking, managing things around the house and every day things, because
I 
know how to do those things without my sight anyway. I don't have enough

sight to see cars when I walk down the road. So I've obviously learned 
alternative techniques for every day things like that. The thing I would
be 
most upset about is not being able to see seasonal things like this at 
Christmas or like it is in the spring or fall. But I really think about 
these things around the holidays because things look so different when 
they're all decorated and lit up. Although we can still enjoy 99% of
life 
without our sight, you hav to admit there are some things that are just
100% 
visual that absolutely need sight to be able to enjoy such as Christmas 
lights. I like being able to stand back from the tree and see it all lit
up 
and see the patterns of lights, etc. But, if you are totally blind, you 
can't get that same enjoyment by simply touching the lights. LOL. All
you 
would be able to do is feel they were warm because of being on, right?
Don't 
get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to be partially blind or sighted
to 
enjoy the holidays, but there are some aspects of seasonal times of the 
year, such as the holidays, that are visual. At the same time, there are

more than visual things that you can enjoy. It just made me wonder, for 
those of you who are blind and have kids or raised kids previously, did
it 
ever bother you when they would open up their gifts on Christmas, and 
although you could hear the excitement in their voice, you couldn't see
them 
opening their gifts or see the expressions on their faces?

Just wanted to bring this up to generate some discussion on the topic
since 
I found that interesting

Chasity


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