So, going blind after having at least some usable vision for 50 years leads to a lot of weird thoughts and experiences. I want to take advantage of the opportunity to write on this blog to highlight some of those things, just in case others might benefit from hearing about them. Some may seem strange but I imagine that most of the time, readers will think, “I never even considered that someone might feel that way or have that experience.” That’s the reaction I am hoping for. To bring light about the world of those without sight.

Today, I was getting dressed for the day, just like most every other day. I pretty much handle all of this on my own, except for finding a shirt for the day. I often ask my amazing wife for help in this area, or even one of the kids if I am desperate. Anyway, today, as I was considering what I was going to wear and hadn’t yet asked for help, I had the realization that someday, not too far into the future, I will not have any memory of any pieces of clothing that I own. What I mean is, all the clothes that I bought when I could still see, will have been retired and replaced with items that I have never seen. Those items will only have descriptions given to me by others or my phone apps attached to them in my mind’s eye. I will not be able to feel a shirt and remember picking that one out for its awesome design of Darth Vader or selecting a pair of shorts and knowing exactly what color blue it was. All I will have is “The shorts are light blue.” Not near as descriptive as the ones I remember buying that were baby blue with a heathered texture to them.

It may not seem like a big deal to you, but that is just one more area where blind people lose out. We just will never have a vivid image of items that come into our lives after we lose our sight. Even things that we did get with vision remaining, we will begin to forget in time. Eventually, I don’t think I will remember that my Grogu themed Hawaiian shirt is a base color of navy blue. That detail will likely fade away unless I am reminded of it. Also, as a kind of crazy side note, I have never seen our new car. We bought a used 2019 Nissan Armada and I have never seen it. I had recently lost my sight when we began shopping for a replacement vehicle and I have pretty much no idea what it looks like. This makes me sad as I really loved cars in the before times. Maybe I can get my phone to describe what the wheels look like, because I have no clue.