Meet an Amazing Grandmother

Meet an Amazing Grandmother

Meet an Amazing Grandmother

We all have people in our lives we consider amazing or wonderful because they have a unique talent or a distinguishing quality of character. I would like to introduce my "most unforgettable character" as they say in the Reader's Digest. I met my friend in the mid 1990s while I was experiencing the empty nest syndrome where kids were in college and I wanted to fill my down time with something that I like to do and give a little something back to help people.

Well, I found the perfect thing for me. I love to snow ski and while on the hill I noticed that there were volunteers guiding the blind down the hill. I was so intrigued by all this that I found out all I could and became a Guide for the Blind. Hence, I met Mary. She is totally blind, incredibly independent, smart as a whip and travels everyday by train for 1 and 1/2 hours to downtown Chicago to get to work with Taurus her dog.

There were many times we would travel to a lodge in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or out to Vail in Colorado and within minutes she was fully acclimated to her surroundings and before we knew it she'd be making coffee and putting all her things in all the right places. She would also have to know where all the pots and pans were in the condo so she could cook a meal.

ON THE HILL WITH MARY Guiding a visually impaired or blind person downhill skiing requires training by Certified Instructors to give directions, recognize conditions, keep constant verbal contact and of course keep them safe by avoiding other skiers on the hill. The skiers themselves also go through a training process so that everyone is on the same page. Once a skier can turn right, left and crash on command we, as guides, can take them out on the hill. Mary had been skiing for quite some time when I met her so she was a veteran was able to tackle just about any hill without bumps (my kind of gal). We ski until we're tired, that is her rule and we follow it because watching a blind skier crash is not fun.

Over the course of years we have stayed in constant contact and occasionally we get out to a slope just to see if we can still do it and we have found it is just like riding a bike. After a few high fives' we say, "the old girls still have it!". One of those times was this past weekend. We got out to a small ski resort for a weekend with Mary's 12-year-old grand-daughter, Ashlyn. We had a ball! Ashlyn will surely take after grandma as far as skiing ability.

Mary is truly someone I feel you should know and hope we will remain friends forever.

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