Comments on: Mary’s early memories

By: Chloe

Chloe — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:27:06 +0000

My favorite story in the girls’ periodical I read when I was a kid was called “Blind Belinda”. I imagined being her of course. Many years later I had a chemical injury to an eye, which necessitated both eyes being bandaged for about ten days. So I experienced being blind for a little while and was reminded of the stories I had read as a kid. I absolutely loved the experience, despite the intense pain from the injury and the fact that I don’t actually wish to be blind.

Thank you Mary; it is quite startling how much all of our histories resonate with one another.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:14:09 +0000

I think the most profound story I read as a kid was “What Katy Did” by Susan Coolidge. A friend’s mother started reading it to me when I was at her house and she lent me the book. I read it over and over and over, Mum eventually made me return the book and bought a replacement (which was hard because it’s an old story, it’s no longer published). When the friend’s mother first started reading it to me I got bored in the first page or so and then I read in the description that Katy got paralyzed by falling off a swing. Even today I’ll go back and read that story again, there’s just so many unexplainable memories with books.

By: Gordo

Gordo — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:21:55 +0000

I echo Sean’s comment, that it sounds so similar to what I went through.

One part that I’ve forgotten until your blog entry is the emphasis on books when you were a child. Now that you mention it, I’ve had a fascination with books involving disabled characters as well.

I recall a picture book called “Lisa’s World” that talks about a deaf girl, and I used to read it over and over again. And then there’s a novel called “The Body” by Carol Ellis that involved a paralyzed and mute girl that I’ve kept to this day. And I remember having a fascination with an episode of “The Wonder Years,” where the main character’s girl crush broke her leg and was on crutches. (I don’t remember the characters’ names yet I remember it visually, like it was yesterday; that tells you a lot about what I was *really* interested in!)

I wasn’t around people with physical disabilities that often, but every time something fictional or real came up, my BIID monster would poke its head out for a second. Like you said, the first feeling was shame. I’m not sure if there’s a worse feeling than that, for something that you can’t really control.

Thanks for sharing that with us, Mary. It takes a lot of guts to write an entry like that; I have yet to gather up the courage and write one myself.

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:57:35 +0000

Mary that sounds soooooooooooooo familiar. It’s eerie.

By: Ronald

Ronald — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:53:32 +0000

Welcome to the club! It sounds like you grew up in a time when attitudes towards the disabled had at least started to change. Sounds like it was somewhat easier for you.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:25:16 +0000

What strikes me with this is that in so many ways, your story echoes vividly with my childhood experiences. Although I can’t say I had the same experiences, it resonates with me.