When Blindness Makes You Visible

Second Post of the Day

My friend Kathy is back in the news again. She asked me not to share until it was announced publicly, but the announcement has been made and I can now unseal my lips.

She has won another award.

Kathy does not look for awards; they find her. And this one is huge. Former winners include Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.

Yeah. Really. 

When she shared the news with me, we were sitting in my car waiting for the nail salon to open so we could get pedicures. (Pedicures are our monthly girls outing/catch up time.) Kathy had just been notified about the award and was so scrambled, she did not know what to say or do.  Her voice shook and I think her hands were shaking, too.

"I just have to tell someone, but please don't share this. Lynn, I never applied for this; I have no idea how they knew about me or why they felt I was a candidate."

And then she shared that she had just been informed that she was to receive the 2026 Helen Keller Achievement Award from The American Federation for the Blind in New York City this coming April.

I know why she was on their radar. It's a no brainer. Indiana Teacher of the Year, 2015. National Teacher of the Year Top Four, 2015 with a White House meeting with President Obama. 

Winner of Dolly Parton's Chasing Rainbows Award. Olympic torch bearer. National Federation for the Blind Teacher of the Year. Sagamore of the Wabash (the highest civilian honor in Indiana), Purdue University Distinguished Alumni Award, and so on.

Helen Keller, one of Kathy's heroes, was a member of The American Federation of the Blind and the award that Kathy has won is named in Helen Keller's honor.

Here is a link to the press release.

https://afb.org/news-publications/press-room/press-release-archive/press-release-2025/2026-helen-keller-achievement

One of the things I like best about Kathy is her humility and, dare I say it, her innocence. And I mean that as a compliment. Her goal is never about herself, the limelight, or the awards, but to help others achieve their best. To serve. To make a difference in our world. And she does it all as a blind woman. 

In a huge twist of irony, I think her blindness makes her visible and opens doors, for her and for others. She is not what most people expect when they learn that someone is blind. As a result, Kathy has broken so many barriers to blindness in so many arenas that sighted people like you and me have to adjust our own personal definitions of what blindness is and what a blind person can accomplish.

And in doing so, she has led the way for other vision impaired people to follow. 

Kathy, you make a difference and you are very deserving of this award. I am happy for you and I am so, so proud of you.

Well done, dear friend. 

The Give Away Winner & a Little More

I want to start with an apology - I left a very big Brighty spot off yesterday and I was pretty smack-the-forehead chagrined when I realized it. So, to rectify that, a huge thank you to those of you who contacted me to wish me well or prayed or sent good thoughts my way. That was very much appreciated, and truly, a Brighty spot in my life.

I spun for the February Give Away winner this morning.

Congratulations to the winner and if you didn't win, there are ten more Give Aways coming up to enter!

I sometimes have little things that aren't enough for a complete blog post, but knit together nicely for one. Here are a couple of things I thought you might enjoy.

~ Often we share about finding HSOs (horse shaped objects) in the wild, but yesterday I found a Breyer collector in the wild!

I had gone shopping for candy and cards to send to my kids and their families for Valentine's Day, and the woman checking me out commented, "I like your jacket."

I was wearing a BreyerFest jacket at the time. (Photo by Breyer) Then she continued.

"I collect Breyers and I also enjoy customizing." I think my jaw had dropped at this point and I was wondering, "Why have we not met before?"

We chatted model horses until another customer needed to check out, but I got her name (Shelby) and plan to go back with some hobby information for her. She is not (yet) connected to the hobby on social media nor has she ever been to BreyerFest. 

I went home and spent a good chunk of time packing those cards and Valentine's Day things I was sending to my family. All those boxes are going out today along with the book to our Give Away winner (on top of the stack.)

~ I've mentioned before that Hawkeye Sarah is a wildlife photographer. Here's a recent video that she took from her truck as she drove through a bison preserve.

My guess is that the cow has learned that there is salt on vehicles in the winter. I'm not sure I'd be as calm as Sarah as the bison licked away - I'd be hoping against hope that she did not use those horns on my car!

~Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch Nacho, my friend Kathy's guide dog who is now retired and living with her parents. I love Nacho. When he was guiding, he was in my classroom many times as Kathy and I did a lot of co-teaching together.

I was privileged to watch him guide many, many times and he is incredible at any and all challenges.

He is happy in retirement, but he's slowing down some and his face is getting whiter. (He probably looked at me and thought the same thing.)

 

This is the dog who guided Kathy to 275 speaking engagements (in just one year!) all over the United States when she was named the 2015 Indiana Teacher of the Year and then as one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year. He can (and has) handle New York City, Chicago, LA, and our biggest cities, travel on planes and subways, and keep her safe while he does it. 

When Kathy met Dolly Parton and received her Chasing Rainbows award, Dolly also honored Nacho for his service with a rhinestone collar.

Dolly Parton gives Nacho his rhinestone collar starting around 7:00. (I know I've shared this several times before but I also happen to be a Dolly Parton fan, too!)

Nacho is the best of the best when it comes to guide dogs, and it will always be a pleasure to spend time with him like I did yesterday. But for the first time ever, I felt the passing of time for him and that made me a bit teary. (For more on Nacho, just do a search - I've written about him many times.)

Speaking of dogs, Nashie and Molly are spending today with us. That always livens the house up for us! I never get as much done as I normally do (and Pepper never gets as much sleep, haha!) but it's going to be a good day.

I hope yours is, too.

Kathy Meets Molly

My dear friend, Kathy Nimmer, helped me find Molly. (Go here to read about her role in putting Molly and me together.) She has wanted to meet Molly since we got her in December, but between bad weather and crazy schedules, it took two and a half months for it to happen.

Wednesday evening, the two of them finally met.

 Molly was hesitant at first as Kathy sat down on the loveseat and began to gently stroke her.

 Then Kathy decided to get down to Molly's level and slid onto the floor next to her.

 Gradually Molly began to relax as Kathy explored her with her hands.

Suddenly, she began laughing. "You're right about her being stocky. I am scratching her chest and it is so big compared to Nacho's. You misnamed her; her name should be Dolly, not Molly!"

That is a tongue in cheek reference to Dolly Parton whom she met when Dolly awarded her (and Nacho) with the Chasing Rainbows award in 2016. (One of Dolly's trademarks over the years, besides her wigs, is her large bust.)

Photo from Google Images. 

To watch Kathy receive her Chasing Rainbows award from Dolly go here. Kathy is introduced at minute 4:50. And Dolly gave Nacho a rhinestone collar for his part in the award at the end of the video!

We sat and chatted for a while, and eventually Molly completely relaxed under Kathy's ministrations and went to sleep.

Next we want to introduce Nacho to Molly. Since Kathy lives just around the corner from me, it would be fun to go for walks this summer together.