Blindscentz #18

Granny Games

I recently had the pleasure of my four-year-old granddaughter visit me from Nanaimo. She is great fun. Did I mention she was four? She had a couple of sleepovers with me. How lucky am I?

My good friend and soul sister brought by an Easter care package for her. It had some coloring books and a couple of markers. It also had some healthy snacks and good things like bunny ears. Sounds wonderful! Later that day, the two of us were home alone unsupervised. We had great fun going through my jewelry box and treasures. We found some family heirloom lockets that I told her she could have when I died. She was puzzled and wondered who would give it to her if I were dead. Hmmm, I did not think that conversation through well. We navigated on and found many more treasures.

Later in the day, while I was making dinner, I set her up to colour at the table. You can imagine the terror when I went to the table a while later and found my hand covered in something sticky when I placed it on my wooden table. OMG I asked her if she was painting. She responded no, it is glue. SPARKLE GLUE on my wood table. It was a beautiful day, so I suggested that we take the sparkle outside to try and catch some fairies. She had great fun.

We went and played with the neighbours’ children. I had to depend on working adult eyes to supervise. My little one disappeared and left me behind in the next-door driveway. She was cold. We made plans to play on the weekend.

The following day, my partner got the two of us set up with a snack and drinks at McDonald’s playland. Overall, we did pretty good. She would come and tell me what she was doing every once in a while. She is old enough to be a navigator in training. We managed bio breaks and ice cream breaks on our own. The patrons of the restaurant were very forgiving as my little navigator in training bounced me off a few obstacles. I do believe she has a little mischievous spice to her. She cannot quite grasp that I really cannot see, so she sometimes drifts me into obstacles to see what I will do. If my cane catches the item in time, I do well. Off to the restroom we went. It was all great until I heard “Grandma, I need help!” EEEK!

Overall, we did very well! I plan on returning the favour to my good friend. She does not yet have grandchildren, but she has four little great-nieces and nephews. I see a care package of sparkles, bubbles, chalk, and stickers coming to her house soon. Wink! Wink!

My granddaughter no longer remembers me being able to see. She is so amazed when she watches videos of the two of us together when I could see. She was a preemie covid baby. I spent one week with them in the hospital to give dad a break when she was born. I gave her her first bottle. I stayed with them for the first three months after she was born. We had a very close bond. She was two-and-a-half while I was in the hospital. As good as it was to spend time with her this past weekend, it did leave behind a large lump of grief in my throat at all I have lost.

Edwina Nearhood is a long-time Fort St. John resident sharing her vision loss journey. Please remember, every person’s vision loss experience is as unique as they are.