Jennifer Morash

The pixie was sitting on my phone when I woke up. 　 Now, here's the thing. I'm blind, so it's not as if I just rolled over and saw her. That would have been less startling. No. I rolled over and groped for the smart phone so I could check the time. 　 "Hey! Watch it, lady." The voice was high and fluting, but not childlike at all. I've heard writers talk about bells when they describe that sort of voice, and that tracks, so long as you're talking about one of those tiny bells. 　 I didn't so much yelp as make a groggy-sounding mumble of confusion, and patted absently at my phone, wondering if I had somehow touched something on the screen that was playing some weird sound clip. 　 "I said to watch it," the little voice complained, and I felt something small slapping at my fingers, followed by a buzzing sound, like an enormous fly or tiny hummingbird had gotten into the room. 　 "What the hell?" I asked, oh-so-int...

Ever met one of those women who everyone seems to want to automatically call Mom? Well, that's my mother. And it's great. 　 She had a lot to deal with as a young mother. I find it unfathomable, myself, thinking about how much younger she was than I am now, how she dealt with it all. You see, I was a very ill infant. In fact, I almost didn't make it. I was very ill just after birth, and had to remain in the hospital as they tried to work out what the heck was wrong with me. They did, eventually, and sent me home, but all too soon I was back. Something was wrong with my eyes. 　 Something continued to be wrong with my eyes. I wound up spending at least one month of most years in the hospital, often more. Through it all, she was there. Sitting with me in the hospital. Taking me to doctor's appointments. Somehow balancing that with raising my sister, as well. I can't imagine how hard that was. Not just the stress it must have caused, but trying to also be there...

Top ten lists are all the rage, so I threw one together. There is no particular order, though, I just tossed these in in the order that they occured to me. 　 So, here we go. The top ten things I want you to realize about people living with disabilities. 　 1. Disabilities tend to fall on spectrums. Not all blind people see absolutely nothing, not all deaf people hear absolutely nothing, not all quadriplegic people cannot move. We're all a bit different. I can see light from one eye. I'm still blind. 　 2. The larger bathroom stall is not there for you to have extra room to change/move about/etc. Also, just because there is no one in the bathroom when you arrive does not mean that you should use it. Some of us have difficulty with the regular one, or outright can't use it. Please don't, unless it is literally the only free one available and you are in an emergency situation, and then be as quick as you can. Just remember that the stall may be someone else...

They say that vision boards work. Unfortunately, making one wouldn't do a whole lot for me. Y'know, with me not being able to look at the pictures and all. Plus finding them could prove a teensy bit difficult. I do know of one blind person who did this anyway, but for me? It's words. It's always words. 　 So instead of a vision board, I'm going to make a vision blog. Why a blog? Because perhaps sharing it with you all will be entertaining for you. It also means that if I succeed, I can point back at this list and be all "Lookit! I did it!" 　 Some of these goals are serious. Some are frivolous. One or two may be silly. We shall see. 　 1. Get something, anything, published by the end of 2019. I'm not aiming for my novel here, but even a short story would be good. Even online publication would be good. I will consider winning a contest to fall into this category, or even placing highly in one. 　 2. Acquire an agent by the end of 2020. A...

So, let me tell you a story. If you are a regular reader, bear with me for a bit, I've told this one before. I promise, there is a payoff for this. 　 As a child, I spent a lot of time in the children's hospital for eye surgeries. This meant that one, or both eyes were covered up with bandages and eyeshields for weeks, even months at a time. Once the sight in my right eye went, which happened very early, it really only took a left eye surgery to have the same effect. On top of this, this happened before my reading comprehension was good enough for chapter books, though I find it hard to comprehend a time when I couldn't read chapter books. 　 Now, my father was a very busy man. He is the sort of man who worked very, very long hours at a good job to provide his family with the things he didn't have growing up. As a child, I don't remember very many mornings when he was still at home when I woke up for school because he left so early, and often returned around...

When I decided to write this review, I was a little uncertain on when to post it. You see, I've already written this week's blog post, but haven't yet set it up for it's pre-programmed publishing on Wednesday. I could push that post back a week, but I like it. I could post this one next week, but I want to give people a chance to get this book the way I did. So, we're doing a bonus blog. 　 "It's Not What It Looks Like" is an audiobook written and performed by Molly Burke. Molly is a youtuber, instagrammer, motivational speaker and "social media influencer". She is also blind. This book is about her life, her triumphs and her struggles. 　 Here's the thing. I identify and have so much in common with this young lady that I was genuinely relieved when she got to a part that didn't match my own outlook on life. No, I'm not going to tell you which part that was, because it isn't important. But I'm glad it's there. ...