Thanks to Scott, Xanthe is the best-dressed little first grader in school. She has all these collegiate-looking outfits with plenty of plaid, pleated skirts and matching shoes. She looks even cuter on her bike. She has done remarkable well riding it, considering she can only see out of one eye. She has finally started to understand that one eye is bad. this summer at the pool, a kid was splashing her. Xanthe, the perennial loudmouth, shouted, "Hey! I only have one eye, ya know!" The kid swam away in confusion. For me, it was both sad and funny. You never think about how carefully you have to guard your eyesight until you only have
one good eye. If anything happens to that one good eye, Xanthe will be almost completely blind. That one good eye is more present in my mind than any other part of Xanthe's body, and it makes me feel like it's more vulnerable than it probably is. I'm always concerned about protecting it. I guess we just have to live our lives and trust that Xanthe can see out of her perfect eye for a reason. I'm so grateful for that! That good eye made the difference between Xanthe being here with us and still living in a Chinese orphanage. We never would have been blessed with this child had she been blind, which is heartbreaking because we would love her no matter what her physical disabilities. I just have to say a prayer of thanks that Hey! Xanthe has one good eye, ya know!
5 comments:
That is funny that she yelled that out. I can just hear her tenacity as she said it.
What a doll - and yes, Scott did a great job with her outfits. :)
does she have any vision in her other eye? -- if she does vision therapy could help.
Hey Xanthe...Emi really likes you! Xanthe will succeed at whatever she tries:)
Hey Circe, Another blog I read posted a similar thing on Friday so I spoke with a wonderful co-worker and friend Pat who has only one eye and asked if she would mind sharing her experiences. She sent me the following to post,
'I had a bone growth behind my right eye and the eye had to be removed. I’ve had a prosthetic eye since I was 6years old – I was teased a lot in grade school!!!! – but now looking back this is what I found –
No matter what the answer is the other children will tell them by attitude or words that they’re different. It’s important for their families to stress that they’re normal and just like all the other kids. Whether they are going down a slide, riding a bike, playing with a doll etc all the other kids are doing the same thing so that is the message that needs to be delivered - there really is no handicap or big difference – just variety! Everybody has to eat, pee, wear clothes etc.
This is what my Mom did for me. It gave me the confidence to ignore the taunts and learn to ride my bike with no hands etc.
As an adult, I realize there are things I can’t do like see in 3 dimension, I get serious vertigo when I’m up high, chlorine stings my eye – I can’t change these, but many other things “I can’t do” are restrictions I place on myself. For years I thought I couldn’t drive – now I’m the proud owner of my second car.
People who don’t know me don’t realize I have an artificial eye because to ME it’s normal and that’s the way I treat it.'
Thought you might find this interesting too Circe.
Xanthe is a sweetie!
Go Xanthe! You are quite the gal to watch out for yourself. What a grown-up gal. You look darling in your clothes. Also, I love the way you get to school. Cool sister.
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