A Morning with Models/An Afternoon with Kathy

There was even MORE rain yesterday (and it is spattering against my window as I type this morning) but I still got a lot accomplished.

The morning was a model horse one coupled with some sewing. I got the show drape for Midwest Mini Mayhem finished and ready for a final pressing.

Shannon asked for blue and I had several shades in stock. Thinking of those teeny, tiny models and how hard they can be to see, I went for a lighter one. I recorded all measurements in one of my sewing sketchbooks (where I draw diagrams and figure out measurements when I am drafting a pattern) as I've learned that you never know when you might be asked to revisit a project and make it again.

Breyer Boot Camp is getting ready to begin. Entries are being accepted and the galleries open for entry April 26. That's when my work begins; I am one of the stewards for this show.

Liz Cory and Jamie Rott have been introducing the judges and the stewards on the Breyer Boot Camp Facebook page and my turn came up.

I will be stewarding the OF Foals and OF Light Divisions this year. It's a lot of fun and something I can do from home any hour of the day. If I find an entrant has made an error in the formatting of their entry or put their model in the wrong class, then I work with the shower to get their entry corrected and ready to be judged. 

Just before lunch, I hopped in my car and drove around the corner to pick up my friend, Kathy, and her guide, Tate. She had been invited to come to Kentland, Indiana and speak at the elementary school there about guide dogs, asking me to join her.

I've driven her to speaking engagements many times, and while she uses Tate to get around safely, my role is to do what Tate cannot - tell her where the microphone is, how close she is to the audience, when the audience is coming in and about how big it is, and more. I also make sure she has a chair if one is not provided, watch her purse and coat if she asks, and keep my eyes open if other dogs are around.

The school was having a "Doggy Day" and had invited other service, therapy, and performing dogs to visit throughout the day. A group of dogs were in the gym on the other side of ours and we could occasionally hear that group barking while Kathy spoke.

Chill guide that he is, Tate was unfazed by their noise, even when one handler opened the door, walked her dog through the gym while Kathy was speaking, then proceeded to walk back through and out!

Kathy could tell that another dog was in the room and turned and asked me about it. I confirmed that there was and reassured her that I had been keeping an eye on it. Tate had seen the other dog, too, but he continued to ignore it. (I once saw the handler of a therapy dog ignore Kathy's repeated requests to keep her therapy dog back because Nacho was in harness and working. A distracted guide compromises Kathy's own safety. That handler boldly ignored those requests because "my dog needs to meet other dogs. It's good for him." It was incredibly thoughtless and very irresponsible.) 

 

Anyway! She first spoke with a large group of first and second graders and then one of fourth and fifth graders. 

I think it was quite eye opening for the students to see a guide dog work but also to discover that Kathy was a teacher despite her blindness. The older group asked her some very well thought out questions about how she was able to call on kids if she could not see their hands up, what Tate did while she taught, how she got around her classroom safely, etc.

After her second presentation, Kathy and Tate had a very touching and meaningful moment. A fifth grade girl was in the audience, and, just as had happened to Kathy at the same age, she was losing her eyesight and would eventually be totally blind. Her teacher asked if we could stay and meet her.

E's face lit up when Kathy came over and sat down on the bleacher next to her.

While Kathy did a lot of listening, she also answered a lot of E's questions about being blind. E was learning to read Braille and had attended a summer camp at the Indiana School for the Blind, but she was still very new to the process of losing her vision.

Kathy took Tate's harness off so that E could pet and explore him. I didn't get a picture of it, but he licked her hand, smothering it in kisses (which delighted E.)

Always, always teaching and aware of the needs of the students around her, Kathy had E help her figure out the gift the school gave her to thank her for coming. (Kathy is reading the Braille on the tee shirt in this photo.)

Using her new Braille skills, E told her that it was a heart with the alphabet in Braille running around its perimeter. It was a really cool gift and, as Kathy said, "I can't tell one tee shirt from another in my drawer at home. But I'll always know when I am wearing this one!"

 Traveling with Kathy is always awesome. We taught together before I retired, we are neighbors, and she is one of my closest friends. Never does she fail to leave a place better than it was before she came - that's just the kind of person she is.

But to watch her reach out to E, engage her in a successful activity like that, and offer her a vision of life where blindness is not a detriment, where life can be full and happy, and show her by example that there are opportunities that may look like hurdles but that can be overcome...

Kathy made a big difference in someone's life that afternoon. 

And I was lucky to be present and witness it unfold.