So, this one was sort of indirectly guided by the children.  We might have to consider moving our “gift day” to the weekend, because it’s nearly impossible to get a thoughtful word in edgewise with the kids on Friday.  They’re in school all day, of course, and then Friday is the one day per week that they’re guaranteed video game time.  (They’re never allowed on a school night and only sometimes on Saturdays.)  They tend to drop their bags and coats at the door and get a Wii remote in hand within seconds.

Anyway, inspiration hit Sunday night.  We spent a lazy day at home after plenty of playing in the snow on Saturday; after church, we lazed around, ate popcorn and rented Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  We napped and folded laundry.  By dinner time, I was in no mood to cook.  Giver Boy and I got everyone’s coats on and we headed out for burgers at Wendy’s.

It’s interesting how a change of scenery gets our family talking in ways we normally wouldn’t at home.  We got extra silly over our meal, goofing on who most looked like who in our family.  We’re a multiracial bunch and we love to spend time commenting on how each of us is a slightly different shade of tan or brown.  I was in the middle of insisting that our youngest, my only daughter, looks so much like me, when our middle guy disagreed.  He was, however, looking over and not through his glasses.  I suggested that he push them up on his nose for a better look.

I remember well when we first found out he needed glasses.  He was about four years old at the time, and over the summer we noticed a strange thing was starting to happen.  Every so often, his right eye would turn in towards his nose, independent of his left.  We thought we were imagining things at first, but as the summer wore on it was increasingly obvious.  I was so worried!  We took him to a pediatric ophthalmologist that fall, and the doctor confirmed that he has a condition called “accommodative esotropia.”  He will likely need glasses for the rest of his life.

What a change to my little guy’s face and health!  I cried a bit on the way home from the doctor’s that day; not a downpour, just a drizzle of tears as I got used to the idea and got over the guilt that he’d likely had difficulty seeing for quite some time without us knowing.  I have since grown to love the way he looks in glasses (we got him the coolest navy plastic frames and he literally gets compliments [and greasy fingerprints] on them daily), and to be honest, I even love the way his eye turns in when he smiles and looks up at me as those frames slip down his nose.

Anyway, back to Wendy’s.  Maybe my oldest suggested he was “blind.”  I think that’s how it got started.  But before long, we were chastising them that it wasn’t at all funny to be blind–that it was a very serious condition.  Imagine if you couldn’t see at all?  What would life be like?  The kids had much to say about the matter, naturally.  As if in harmony with our little fast food philosophizing, a Stevie Wonder song came on over the speaker system.  “Guess what?” we said.  “The guy singing this song is blind.  Stevie Wonder–he’s one of mommy and daddy’s favorites.  How do you think that affected him as an artist?”

Can I just say again how much I love digging into these sorts of conversations with my kids?

We didn’t exactly make the connection to this week’s $52 gift, but now I’d like to; after a bit of online research (including a search on Charity Navigator, of course), I’ve decided that this week’s gift should go to the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults.

From their website:

The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is a service agency which specializes in providing to blind people help which is not readily available to them from government programs or other existing service systems. It operates through countless volunteers across the nation.

The purpose of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is to assist blind and deaf-blind persons in securing reading matter, to educate the public about blindness, to provide specialized aids and appliances to the blind, to give consultation to governmental and private agencies serving the blind, to offer assistance to those losing vision in their later years, to offer services to blind children and their parents, and to work towards improving the quality of life for the blind and deaf-blind.

I hope you’ll take a moment today to give thanks for the gift of sight, if you possess it, and that you’ll consider giving something back in return to those who do not.

If you’re giving alongside us this week, we’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

{ 0 comments }