About Us

How It All Began

In March 1975 I began my first full-time job, working as a rehabilitation teacher for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. I was hired to teach Braille to the English speaking clients of the CNIB, on and around the island of Montreal.

In January 1976 I was asked to join the team that would be teaching an adjustment to blindness program. My job was to be the instructor of the manual dexterity course.

The three -month program began on January 13th. For some reason, I'll always remember that date. I would have to meet with and interview my five new students. I was told that I would have to conduct these interviews in French. I was extremely nervous because I definitely wasn't what you could call “fluently bilingual”. Nevertheless, I managed to get through the first four sessions without a hitch. However, the fifth one was a different matter altogether. For some reason this last student made me feel very anxious. I seemed to have forgotten the French language altogether. At the end of the interview he said: “Congratulations! You did very well.” I nearly fell off my chair. When I asked him why he hadn't told me that he could speak English, his answer was: “I thought you had to do it in French as part of your job.” I felt like strangling him, right then and there. This was my first meeting with the man who would eventually become my husband.

Ron graduated from that course in April of that year. In those days teachers were not supposed to fraternize with their students, but we managed to break the rules three weeks before the course ended. We began dating in March of that year, and by October we were engaged. We were married in June of the following year.

Although both Ron's parents and mine had many concerns about how two visually impaired people would manage to build a life together, they never once stood in the way of our happiness. We've had our ups and downs like any other couple.

On June 18th 2007 we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. These years have been the best years of my life.