Continuing Story Part 8

The next Dahlia woke up to darkness. She sat there blinking her eyes, but no shadow came into play. She tried crawling out of bed to get her robe on and tripped over her slippers. This caused a loud noise, which brought the teacher directly from her bed to Dahlia’s bedroom.

The teacher knelt over and helped pick her up and sat her down on the bed and checked her out for any cuts or blood. After seeing nothing, the teacher asked  what had happened, had she fallen, and Dahlia burst into tears, saying she could not see.

The teacher laid her down in her bed, and told her she would be back, that she  was going to go call the doctor, and told her to please lie still and try not to get out of bed. The teacher could be heard going through the house, sounding like fast running horses.

In mid morning, the doctor came over with his special tools and checked Dahlia’s eyes out, and found that a few of her blood vessels had broken in both eyes, and there was no way to fix this. She was blind. Dahlia broke out in wails and the teacher came to her side and put her arm around her and tried to comfort her, but it did not work. She told Dahlia that she was going to walk the doctor to the door, and that she would be back in a few minutes.

On the way to the door to let him out, she asked him if there was something that could be done and he shook his head no. There was no fixing the already damaged vessels. She thanked him for coming and he told her if they needed him, just to let him know.

Teacher walked back to the bedroom where Dahlia was still sobbing and sat down in the rocker across from the bed in silence. All that could be heard in the room was gasping and cries. The teacher felt helpless and didn’t know what to say or do, but she knew that they had to move forth in their lives.

She stood up and told Dahlia that she was going to go prepare them some breakfast, and they would talk when she got back to the room. Dahlia told her she didn’t want any breakfast and that she wanted to be left alone.

The teacher walked out of the room, ignoring the request, and went to the kitchen and started breakfast. Two hard-boiled eggs, fresh fruit, toast with jelly and hot tea. She brought the tray back to Dahlia’s room and rested it on her dresser. Dahlia did not move towards her, in fact, she rolled over the other direction and pulled the covers up over her head.

The teacher said that they must eat, that they neither would be able to think clearly about what to do with this new information if they didn’t have nourishment. She took the blankets back and helped her sit up in her bed, and then brought a small table over and placed her breakfast on the table. She took Dahlia’s hands and helped her feel where each food and silver ware was, showed her where the cup was placed. There was no sound, so teacher went back to the rocker and balancing her breakfast on her lap, she began to eat and think about what their next move was.

She had her first bite swallowed and all of a sudden a loud crash was heard, and food was splattered everywhere. On the bed, the floor, and her bed-clothes. Dahlia laid back down and covered herself back up, and said to the teacher, go away, leave me alone.

The teacher continued to eat, ignoring the outburst from Dahlia, and when she finished she took her tray down along with the broken dish pieces, and then brought back a mop and bucket and cleaned up the floor.

She left Dahlia alone, to tend to her grieving and did not offer to help clean her clothing or bed up. In the teacher’s mind this was bad, but she knew of people who had life much worse, and they would work around this. To Dahlia, life was over. Her dreams had vanished along with her sight. Dahlia went deep into herself, never wanting to live again.

The teacher checked in on her periodically to see if she was alright, but for the fact of only getting up to  use the restroom, she never left her bed. Meanwhile, the teacher made a trip to the school and explained the absence of the past day of why Dahlia was not in school.

The school personal called her into a small quiet room and had her wait here. Within a few moments two other personal came in to the room and they all sat at the table. They stated what a fine girl Dahlia was, and that she worked hard and had outstanding grades, but, there was no special equipment here at the school for someone who was blind. They hated to excuse her from this school, they hated seeing her go, but they had no choice. They dropped Dahlia from the classes.

The teacher sat there with tears flowing down her cheeks. Her own visions of this beautiful girl not being able to dance and teach had been broken also. She held out her hand to shake and tell her good-byes. They went to where Dahlia’s books were kept and gathered them up and they all walked to the front door, letting the teacher out and the door closing softly behind them. This was it, it was over. So hard to get into school, and so easy to be let go. How could this happen, and what could be done about it. These were all thoughts that were racing around in her head, on her walk home to a student that refused to get out of bed, thinking that her life was totally over.

English: Line art drawing of a dahlia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Continuing Story Part 7

The next day Dahlia went to school without any problems with her eyes, but when school

was over, she kept her promise to the eye doctor and paid his office a visit. He was expecting her and welcomed her in and offered her a seat. He finished up some paper work he was working on and then placed it in the filing cabinet and shut the drawers.

He motioned for her to come on in to his eye room and here they would take a closer look

at her inner eyes. She got up from her seat and followed him in. After making her comfortable in the vision chair, he explained what he was going to do and ask her if she was alright with this, and she nodded yes.

He walked over and turned the lights on the eye machine then got some plastic coated cards ready in front of him, and then walked over and turned off the over head light. He had her sit upright straight in her chair and fitted the machine up to her eyes. With his tools he looked deep into her eyes, studying the back of the eyeball. He had her do some reading tests and then placed a few drops of liquid in each eye, forcing the eye to open wider in the back of the eyeball, and then took another light and looked deeper in the eye.

After he was finished he turned the lights off to the vision machine, and walked over and flipped the over head light back on. He walked back towards her and she saw that he had a serious look on his face, and his fingers were toying with his moustache.

He explained to her that some of the optical nerves in the back of her eye were becoming weak and breaking off, causing the brain to not recognize what it needs to and she was beginning to go blind.

She sat there expressionless and speechless. There was silence in the room for a few moments as both were taking in their findings. The doctor went on to explain that at this time there just was no cure for this as the scientists have not discovered what causes this to happen in young people. She was going to continue to see less and less until one day she would see nothing at all.

Dahlia began to cry and the doctor walked over to her and placed his arm around her shoulder and tried to say words of comfort for her, but in the end, there was nothing that could ease her fear. She stood up and told him thank you for seeing her, and he patted her on the back, telling her that if there was anything he could do to help, please stop by at any time. His door was always open.

Dahlia walked home at a snail’s pace, chewing the information that had been given to her, and wondering what the teacher would say about this, when she told her. It then became quite clear in her mind that her dancing might be affected. Would she be able to continue her studies, and her dreams of dancing, and becoming a dance teacher? She broke into tears and found herself running as fast as she could until she reached her home, and throwing the door open, she yelled for the teachers name and went to the kitchen and fell into the table chair.

The teacher walked in and took one look at Dahlia’s face and knew something had gone wrong at her eye visit. She made them each a cup of hot tea and then sat down next to Dahlia. Small drips of tears dropped on the table and on her arm, and as she sipped on her tea, her breathing calmed a little. Being here with the teacher brought comfort, and at this time, this is what she was searching for, comfort and answers.

After some time went by, Dahlia explained what she had done at the eye doctors office and the results that he had given her. The teacher sat in silence for a moment, and then cleared her throat and looked straight into Dahlia’s eyes. She laid her hands over hers and told her that this was indeed not the news they both wanted to hear, but together, they would fight this, and they would work with what God had given her.

Dahlia looked at her and asked how could you say this, the doctor says I am going to be blind? The teacher stated that they will live on faith, and pray often, and they would ask God to guide them through this, and they would follow his words and directions.

Dahlia was not sure if this was the answer she wanted to hear or not, but she also knew that her dream to be a teacher was very strong, and she didn’t want to lose it. Together, they both got off of their chairs, and the knelt together, with heads bent, hands wrapped inside of each others, and they prayed. They asked God to heal this girl if it be his will. They asked for guidance, and understanding, and to make them aware of what he wanted them to do. They professed their love for God, and their desires for their lives. They asked to be forgiven for any wrong or selfish thoughts either of them may be thinking, and together they both said Amen.

The two rose and letting go of each other, they headed out the door and walked to the flower garden, and each picked a beautiful flower and then went to the porch swing and swung. The swing brought so much peace to each of them. It was like floating in air casting cares to the winds. There were many evenings spent on this swing, being comforted by God and nature.

They both realized that they had let time slip past their dinner hour, and so they got off the swing and went to the kitchen, but neither was very hungry, so they had a finger sandwich and a cup of broth, and then both went to their rooms for the night, each telling the other, that they were right across the hall if needed.

 

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No Routine Here

Autumn crocuses at Killerton. Growing in the shade of a tree, with Sedum in a border in the background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you get used to your every day routine? I think I do. I proved it to myself most of today. The sun was out, the weather perfect. I cleaned our home from yesterday’s party. Mopped my kitchen floor. Went outside and finished putting everything back in the shed, that I wasn’t going to be needing for a while. I stopped and sat down, and went down yesterday’s memories. Reliving the time my daughter and I spent on the swing, just sitting side by side, with sometimes no talking. Watching my grandchildren, running and playing. Laughing so easily, no worries or concerns in their innocent, little minds. I watched my son, who I have secretly named my Grill Chef. He flipped hamburgers so easily, as if he had done it his whole life. He split wood and never let the fires get low. He managed to spend his time at the grill and also pay attention to his family. It gives me great joy to see the children I bore, become outstanding adults. I see qualities in each of my kids, that I am so proud of. The friends who came for the party were so kind. The attention they gave to Al was genuine. I am truly blessed to have these people in my lives. I sat on my swing, and laid my hand on the spot beside me, trying to bring back the presence of my daughter. A tear formed for just a moment, as I miss her so much. I got up from the swing and walked around my home, looking at the freshly cut grass, done by my son only yesterday. I see the neighbors homes and know each of them well enough, that if there were an emergency, I could go to them. I feel safe here. There is a peace in our yard as I look at the huge shade trees all around. I see the birds and the squirrels who have come to depend on me for their treats. Today is certainly different. Al has had no tears today. He told me he is emotional at supper. I asked him what he meant, and he said he didn’t know why, he just was. I suppose it may have to do with the silence of today versus the noise of yesterday. I have not had the phone ring once today. I have left the television off for most of the day also. I have heard no swearing. This is not a normal day for me, but a day I have truly enjoyed. It is nice to have a day with out routine.