In Darkness and In Silence

Through my whole life, people have said to me that I have a good way with words.  So much so, that I've proclaimed myself a writer.  And then yesterday happened.

I belong to a neighborhood writer's group and we had two guest speakers at our monthly meeting yesterday.  Both are extraordinary poets.  They had never met before.  In fact, they had never spoken before.  Their lives are very different yet their stories have so much that is similar.

Jean is a neighbor.  I've seen her around, walking down the road, always escorted by a guide dog.  She has been legally blind for 40 plus years and during the pandemic lost most of her remaining vision.

Susan is a life-long friend of a neighbor.  Her life goal was to be a music teacher but in college began losing her hearing.  As a young adult she went completely deaf and redirected her career goals towards special education.  

As the two women told their life stories of learning to compensate to live full lives with significant disabilities, they both found themselves suddenly full of poetic messages that they had to get out.  Yes, there were heart-wrenching words of the loneliness of silence and darkness but there were so many more up-lifting tidings of love and hope.   I was mesmerized by both their poetic words and their life stories.