Introduction to the Frisbee

This particular memory still lingers very much in my mind. I still remember the very first day when my parents took me to the park to play Frisbee. This after I had just gained sight after my first cornea transplant. It was a gorgeous spring day in Montreal as we ventured to the lush green park to try out my new Frisbee.

It was a bright orange and my parents were just as anxious as me. At first, they tossed it gently to me and watched intently as I caught it and then tossed it back to them. I truly enjoyed this experience. Watching the flight of the Frisbee as it left my hand and sailed noiselessly and quickly towards my parents. I was so excited to be able to see it all and both of my parents seemed just as excited.

The afternoon was a gorgeous one! The sun was just right, the grass nice and lush, and there were others around us also enjoying their activities.

I continued to play Frisbee after this first experience and thoroughly enjoyed it all. I still have this Frisbee after all of these years and shall forever hold on to it. Sometimes I take it out of its hiding place and toss it gently into the air and now that I no longer have the vision to play with others, I play by myself.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to learn more about the world of blind persons by visiting www.nfb.org.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or you can chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
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This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

Red light green light

I still remember being able to see those traffic lights as we drove along in the car. As long as I could remember, my parents told me all about the significance of red light and green light. Red meant to stop, orange meant to get ready, and green meant to go.

I used to play so many games with myself as we drove along and in those days I had enough vision to see the lights as we approached. I used to make bets with myself as to whether or not we would make the red light in time and as to whether or not we would catch the green light before it turned red again.

The traffic lights always fascinated me and I can still see them in my mind's eye. This was my favorite game as we drove along in the family's car but I don't think that anyone really knew. Ah yes! Memories forever!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to learn more about me by visiting www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or come chat with me on Skype @habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

Memories of Cousin Susan

She was a bit older than me but that did not matter. She taught me how to make a mat out of palm leaves. She taught me to say my first words in Spanish. But above all, she was my guide when I was barely able to walk and talk!

Cousin Susan was my mentor. She was always by my side and walked hand in hand with me all the way. She knew from the get go that I was blind and was always constantly explaining things to me.

We played together. We walked together. We swam together, and at night she told me lots of stories as we laid in bed together. She was a light in my life at that time.

Cousin Susan taught me so many things and was never tired of teaching, showing, explaining, and helping. She even made me a paper doll all dressed up in a carnival costume and called her Carnival Mollie.

I never knew what she looked like and my first sight of her was when I saw her in a picture as a bride. Over the years I have clutched memories of Cousin Susan very close to me, but alas! We never stayed in touch.

Memories forever that will always be in my memory bank. I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my memories with others. Visit my author's page at www.donnajodhan.com.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or come chat with me on Skype @habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

Kudos to the University of London England

In 2012 I embarked on an adventure of great personal importance. I started a three-year journey to becoming a lawyer and I chose to do it at the University of London England's distance learning school. So far so good. I have not been disappointed with the accessibility of materials and the assistance and support that I have been receiving at the U of London England's school.

In addition to this, I have been receiving great assistance from others but what impresses me most about the U of London England is their willingness and readiness to accommodate my needs as a blind student. When it comes to alternate formats they really get it and understand it. They seem to know my needs before I even identify them. They know how to handle my needs at exam time and there is a definite process in place to handle the most important challenges.

Everything is in place. Step by step is the name of the game and there is a time for everything. I am not disappointed and I am proud to be a part of the U of London England's student population.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and learn more about the world of blind persons by visiting www.rnib.org.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

Afraid of the crabs

I am not embarrassed to tell you that as a kid I had a very furtive imagination which enabled and allowed me to imagine a heck of a lot. More often than not, my imagination usually ran away with me and I used to imagine some things to be a lot bigger and scarier than they really were.

One such thing or creature was the poor little crab. For the life of me I am not sure why this was so but I used to imagine that crabs were much bigger than they really were. I used to think of them as having huge claws, very broad backs, and larger than life pinchers or gundies as we used to refer to them.

My granny was the master crab catcher and on a moonlit night she, Dad, my auntie Julie, and my brothers and various cousins would go out there and hunt for blue back crabs. I always stayed behind with mom and waited excitedly for the return of the family with crabs in tow. I would wait my turn to visit the buckets of crabs and would stand and listen to them moving around in the buckets. Sometimes I would place my hand gingerly into the bucket but always far enough away from the crabs themselves.

I was always petrified of crabs and even to this day I am still at a loss to explain why. I know now what they look like and how big they really are but this does not stop me from being afraid of them.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to come visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or come chat with me on Skype @habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

Memories of playing hide and seek

This was one of my favorite games when I was a kid. I played it with my brothers and cousins, with my friends, and even with friends of my brother Robert.

There was a huge difference when I played it with my family and Robert's friends as opposed to playing it with my friends in grade school. Why? Because my friends in grade school were blind like me and it was much more fun then.

Why so? Because it was a different way of playing the game of hide and seek. When you play with sighted kids it is much more difficult to hide but with other blind kids it is a bit easier, more fun, but wait! Blind kids use their hearing to help them discover hiding places.

At school, we developed our own version of hide and seek and we made up different rules. We made up rules as we went along and we sure had lots of fun doing it. How well I remember trying to sneak away on tip-toe so as not to alert my pursuer as to where I was headed. Or I would walk swiftly and oh so quietly so as not to alert them as to my whereabouts. Then there was the fun in luring them to a possible hiding place and then sneaking away to escape them.

So many great memories for me to linger over. So many happy childhood memories of me playing hide and seek.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to come and learn more about me as detective DJ at www.donnajodhan.com.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or come chat with me on Skype @habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

Pushing the stroller

Oh yes! I pushed many a stroller when I was a kid, pushing my baby cousins along in their strollers. I had very little vision then but it did not really matter to my mom and aunt. They allowed me to push baby Stephen around our home. I would go up and down the hallways and I would be so careful as I went along not to bump into anything.

I was always so proud of myself because I could do it all without bumping into anything and the little baby never cried or complained. As a matter of fact, he sang and hummed to himself and I guess that he was happy with my stroller driving. I would never know because I was never able to see his tiny expressions.

I loved pushing his stroller around. I loved to pretend that I was driving him on country roads, or on busy streets in the city. Sometimes I would speed along the hallway but then I would slow down when I came to the corners and doorways.

Just another memory that I have carefully filed away in my memory bank.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to learn more about the world of blind persons by visiting www.rnib.org.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

My vision of St. Lucia

I have put my imagination to work here as I formulate a vision of the tiny Caribbean island of St. Lucia. With precious little vision to help me, I have developed a recipe of smells, sounds, feel, and touch to form the base of my vision. These are the ingredients that I use almost always now to help me formulate my memories and visions.

Since 2010, Mom and I have been spending my vacation time in St. Lucia and we plan to return annually for as long as we are able to. My vision of St. Lucia may not exactly match what this tiny island really looks like but I hope that it is close enough to give you a picture.

So here goes. Ah yes! St. Lucia! One of the shining jewels of the Caribbean. An island made up of lush green scenery. An island with lots of sunshine, terrific beaches, and sea bathing and swimming rivaled by very few other islands. I imagine that the sea is of a jade green color. The sand is golden brown, and the lazy white capped waves are something to behold. The skies are almost always a medium blue. Boats sail soundlessly by. Swimmers frolic in the surf while others walk leisurely on the beach.

The food is awesome, a combination of French and Caribbean cuisine. The people are almost always smiling and are dressed in bright colors. These are my impressions of lovely St. Lucia and it is what will remain with me forever.

The sweet fragrance of the ocean! The fresh smell of the sea breeze! The wafting odors of St. Lucian cooking! Ah yes! Forever in my mind!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my memories with others. Come by any time and visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca.


Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"

The little yellow butterfly

I was just a little girl then, my hand placed firmly in that of my beloved dad. His hand was a strong and confident one as he guided me around our yard and with absolute gentility he would stop to catch a poor unsuspecting little butterfly and as gentle as a kitten, he would place it in the palm of my outstretched hand.

Before doing this, however, Dad would tell me what to expect and what he was going to do. First, he would tell me to stand still and not make a sound. Then he would tell me that he was going to try and catch a little butterfly for me and that he would do his best to catch a yellow one because he knew that yellow was my favorite color. Then, after he had placed it in the palm of my tiny hand, I was to remain as still as a mouse while he described the butterfly to me.

So, as described above, it happened. I stood as still as a mouse while Dad went butterfly hunting. When he captured his intended little victim, he would whisper to me that he had it and that he wanted me to put out my hand, and presto! He was then placing it, oh so gently, into the palm of my hand.

Then Dad and I would stand there with me holding the little yellow butterfly and Dad describing it to me. On most occasions the butterfly did not move. It would lie quietly in the palm of my hand breathing gently and looking around. Dad would describe everything to me; its color, its size, its movements, and he even spiced things up by describing the butterfly's expressions to me. I even believed this last description.

That was so long ago but these tender memories of me, the little yellow butterfly, and my beloved dad shall always be in my memory bank. Thank you, Dad, for having helped to enrich my childhood in such a unique way. These are memories that were formed through your eyes as my sight was not good enough to do the job.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to come by and enjoy my audio mysteries at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/author.jodhan

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"If you either are or have been a victim of crime, violence, abuse, or bullying, and if you are simply tired of being bombarded with audios and scenes of the above, then I am asking for your support. I have written and recorded audio mysteries that are completely void of vivid descriptions of sex, crime, and violence because I firmly believe that it is time for us to use the spoken word to help influence our kids to start listening to content that is clean and healthy. By doing this we can all do our part to tackle crime in a positive and meaningful way and it only costs pennies per day.Visit my online store at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html.
I thank you and your kids will also thank you!"