Independence – My Corner

What a Grandfather Teaches About Blindness and Mobility #SatudaySurprise #Reblogs #Inspiration

What a pleasant surprise it was to run across fellow author and blogger Patty Fletcher’s post featuring one of my book reviews. I posted this here last fall, but if you read it, I hope you’ll agree it’s worth a second look. Thanks to Patty for publishing my work today. Happy reading!

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In this children’s picture book, based on Jim Hoxie’s real-life experiences, a grandfather shares how he lost his vision and later attended a rehabilitation facility for veterans. There, he learned to use a white cane and developed other essential skills for independent living. He also describes how he shares his experiences with schoolchildren and members of the Lions Club in Spearfish, South Dakota, where he lives.

Saturday Surprise: What a Grandfather Teaches About Blindness and Mobility a Book Review by Abbie Johnson Taylor #ReadingWithTheAuthors, #SponsoringMember – Patty’s Worlds

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

New! Living Vicariously in Wyoming: Stories

Published independently with the help of DLD Books.

Image Description written by Leonore Dvorkin of DLD Books.

As defined in the first story, living vicariously means living your life through someone else’s. You’re invited to live vicariously through the lives of the people in these stories. There’s the lawyer who catches his wife in the act with a nun. A college student identifies with a character in a play. A young woman loses her mother and finds her father. And a high school student’s prudish English teacher strenuously objects to a single word in her paper.

In Wyoming, as in any other state, people fall in love, and sometimes relationships are shattered. Accidents, domestic violence, prejudice, and crimes all occur. Lives are torn apart, and people are reunited. Ordinary people deal with everyday and not–so–everyday situations.

The 25 stories in this collection, most of which are set in Wyoming, are about how the various characters resolve their conflicts—or not.

Click here for more information and ordering links.

About My Monthly Newsletter

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Ordering Groceries with Door Dash #TuesdayTidbit #WeeklySmile #Inspiration

The gal who delivered my groceries from Albertson’s for years has retired. Two weeks ago today was her last day to deliver for me. I could ask my homemaker from the senior center to shop for me, which I’ve done. But since she’s only allotted two hours a week, I want her to have time to clean my house and run other errands I can’t easily do on my own because of my limited vision and inability to drive.

Last Friday, after realizing I was running out of a few essentials, I decided to try shopping at Albertson’s with Door Dash. I’d used this app on my iPhone to order food from local restaurants, and the process was relatively simple. I figured the grocery-shopping experience would be no different.

For the most part, I was right. I had no trouble finding items I usually buy from Albertson’s and adding them to my cart. I was able to search for each item and find it more quickly than I would have if I’d slogged through all the categories.

I ran into a snag at checkout. For whatever reason, Voiceover, the text-to-speech program I use on my iPhone, wanted to read everything else on the screen and not navigate to the Continue button. I could see the button at the bottom of the screen, but when I touched it, Voiceover didn’t announce it as it usually does. This is no doubt due to the way the app is set up. I finally used my closed-circuit television magnifier to find the button and click it.

I then had trouble figuring out how to select a substitution. I solved that problem by texting my dasher, Curtis, and asking him to contact me, which he did. Soon after that, my groceries arrived, and all was well.

The down side of this process was the cost. Even with free delivery, I paid more than I usually do, not including the dasher tip. I may try the Walmart app next time to see if it’s cheaper and easier to use. But what made me smile was that I was able to order my own groceries through an iPhone app without assistance. What a sense of accomplishment!

How about you? What made you smile this week? Please tell me about it in the comment field or click here to participate on your blog and read other responses. Keep smiling. 😊

Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

I have great news! For those who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled in the United States, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me is now available in an audio format from their site. To download this book click here.

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to: newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

The Wheels Are Turning at the Seeing Eye #FridayFinds #Reblogs #Inspiration

After losing her guide dog six weeks ago, fellow author and blogger Mary Hiland is finally ready for another one. In this post, she explains the first steps in applying for a guide dog. You can check out my reviews of her books

here and here. Enjoy!

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My darling Dora died of cancer six weeks ago. While there are times that something sets me off, a word, a song, or just the overbearing feeling of loneliness, and I weep, even sob, in self-indulgent sadness, I know that sooner or later, I must replace her with a new Seeing Eye ® dog. I hate using the word replace, because a dog like Dora cannot be replaced. Yet, I can’t go on needing to hold the arm of a kind person to go anywhere outside my home, and I’m terrible at using a white cane. It’s time to go back to the Seeing Eye to train with a new dog to regain my independence.

Read the full post on Seeing It My Way.

A Teenager Wants Independence #It’sSix-Sentence-“Story-Thursday-Link-Up

“Look, Natalie,” I told my daughter. “We made a deal last summer when your grades were so low, and you wanted to learn to drive then. Your mother and I told you that once your grades went up, we could get you a learner’s permit, and I’d teach you. Now, it looks like your grades are improving. So, maybe next summer, we can do that. It’s too dangerous to learn to drive in the snow, and it looks like we’re getting an early winter…”

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The above is an excerpt from my forthcoming novel, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me, due out soon from DLD Books. Thanks to Girlie on the Edge for inspiring this with her six-sentence-story prompt for this week. Click here to participate in her blog hop.

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For those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

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New! The Red Dress

When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.

Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.

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Thursday Book Feature: Ready, Set, Poetry

Ready, Set, Poetry

By D. P. Lyons

Deon Lyons is a poet living in Maine who is totally blind. The poems in this collection are divided into four sections: blindness, nature, memories, and holidays. The author writes about losing his vision in 2010, spending time with his grandchildren, and other topics. Each section begins with narrative describing the poems in that particular section. At the end of the book, there’s another narrative passage in which the author talks about his writing and his hopes for the future.

I met Deon several years ago through Behind Our Eyes, an organization of disabled writers to which we belong. Having worked with senior citizens for fifteen years, some of whom, like Deon, lost their vision later in life, I marvel at how positive Deon is in his poetry, despite frustration and depression that accompanies loss of independence. I also enjoyed reading about his childhood memories. Ready, Set, Poetry, is Deon’s second book, and I would like to read more by him.

I recently learned, though, that Deon is battling a life-threatening form of cancer. He is currently in a rehabilitation facility, where he is receiving chemo and physical therapy in the hope that he will have at least two good years with his family. You can click here to learn more. If you believe in the power of prayer, I suggest you include him. I hope that despite his illness, Deon and his family have a lot to be thankful for on this day.

Now here’s a rare treat, a sample poem from Deon’s book. This was recorded by fellow blogger Lynda McKinney Lambert, another member of Behind Our Eyes who also knows Deon. Because there’s no easy way to translate a Kindle file into braille, I was unable to record myself reading this or any of Deon’s other poems. When Lynda sent me this recording so I could share it with his family, I thought this would be a fitting ending to my review. I hope you think so too.