The gift of hope

 

(Hands hold up a heart-shaped stone with the word Hope inscribed on it. Ocean in the background.)

As we speed towards the end of 2023, I can only say that my gift to those around me is the gift of hope.

I pray fervently for hope for a better and brighter future for our kids.
For starvation, war, and other man-made hardships to be greatly reduced.
For natural disasters to be less destructive.
Above all! For mankind to be kinder and more generous to each other.
To be more considerate to each other and to hope for a happier, healthier, and more positive world!

I'd like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! Happy holidays! But most of all! A 2024 that will bring us lots of blessings, good things, and hopes and dreams to be fulfilled.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays!
Joyeux Noèl!
Feliz Navidad!
Buon Natale!
Happy Hanukkah!
Please take a moment to give a gift of accessibility to families with children with a disability!
Visit https://donorbox.org/author-donna-jodhan
Would love to hear from you as well.
You can reach me at donnajodhan@gmail.com

Here’s hoping for 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I can only hope, can’t I?  And why not?  One never knows how many of my hopes and dreams could come true!

I hope for an end to the War in the Ukraine and that Ukrainians are justly rewarded for their fate, commitment, and dedication to their country! That the Russians are brought to their senses and that they find a way back to common sense.

That the Iranian regime makes a big turn around and decides to become one of humanity.

That starvation around the World starts to decline drastically and that our kids, our precious futures, are saved and become much less vulnerable to us adults!

I hope that climate change becomes more of an action item for the World to deal with.
 
Finally, I dream of a more barrier-free world for persons with disabilities!

I'd like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! Happy holidays! But most of all, a 2023 that will bring us lots of blessings, good things, and hopes and dreams to be fulfilled.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays!
Joyeux Noèl!
Feliz Navidad!
Buon Natale!
Happy Hanukkah!
Please take a moment to give the gift of accessibility to families with
children with a disability!
Visit https://donorbox.org/author-donna-jodhan
Donna

Reflections: The 2016 Olympics

I am not sure if it would be accurate to say that the degree of audio description would depend on which channel you choose. But what I would say is that when it comes to audio description we are still a very long way from being able to enjoy acceptable audio description.

I found this out when I followed much of the 2016 Olympics on more than one channel.  Sometimes the audio description was simply non-existent and at other times it was not too bad.

At the end of the day I would say that I hope and pray that with time there will be more audio description.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day. 

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit
http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

And now my weekly podcast!
From recipes to apps, and 5 minute mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.takeanother5.com
And available for download from iTunes and Google music play

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Fond memories: Those beautiful bird sounds

Their voices are as pure as a breeze in a bottle, or maybe I should say that they are as pure as an angel's song.  They sing so freely and do it so eloquently.  They do not care who hears it and that's just fine with me.

There is nothing better than for me to hear these little songsters every day.  They do not know me but I sure as heck know them and now that my vision is almost gone, they are the ones that bring me the most joy. 

They help me to imagine.  They help me to think, dream, hope, and anticipate.  They help me to relax and recharge.

What more can I say about these little ones?

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit  jodhanmysterybook.club/about-the-author
There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.
Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Attitude barriers

They have been around for as long as I can remember and truth be told I really do not expect them to disappear in the very near future.

They have been shared and handed down from generation to generation.  They have been reinforced, expanded, and extended.  They have increased, for the most part. But every now and then, some of them may disappear and then reappear in a different form.

The problem is that in so many cases many of us are not even aware that we are part of their fabric.  This is what many of us who are blind face and will continue to do so until some day we'll wake up as a collective society and realize that barriers need to go.

They need to be pulled down and be replaced with solid bridges.  They need to be destroyed and be replaced with lush grasslands, and beautiful fields of flowers. I hope that my message is getting through.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit  jodhanmysterybook.club/about-the-author
There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.
Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Any hope of vision for me?

No, no! Why? According to my learned eye doctors, it is not medically possible at this time but one never knows. One should never give up hope that some or one day soon there will be a medical breakthrough. It is happening all of the time so why not hope?

Am I hopeful? Definitely so! I live in hope. I am extremely lucky that for 25 years I was able to see the world through limited vision and for this I shall always be grateful. There are so many blind persons who never had what I did. I was able to see so much and to appreciate so much. I saw the sun! I saw the moon, the stars, and the skies! I saw rainbows, white capped waves, and jade green and deep blue seas! I saw birds and butterflies! I saw skaters on the ice, the flickering of Christmas lights, and cookies and cakes on tables, buffet tables, and so much more! Above all, I saw Jesus in a manger with Mary, Joseph, and the angels as well! I saw the faces of my beloved parents and brothers! I saw the faces of others! I saw so much and shall forever remember.

If I am not fortunate enough to regain it then for sure! I'll regain it when I see God and my loved ones in the next world and what a day that will be!

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

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan.
Or you can chat with me on Skype at 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!"

What if

For the dreamer that I am, I often like to sneak away to a quiet place and dream a bit. So here goes.

What if I were to regain my vision?! Then what would be the first thing that I would like to lay eyes on? Maybe a church with Jesus in the manger, and Mary and Joseph close by! A church at Christmas time with flickering candles all decorated with the Nativity scene as the focus.

What would I like to see next? Maybe blue skies, puffy white clouds, a golden sun, and white-capped waves rolling gently towards a sandy beach. A blue-green ocean with boats sailing noiselessly against the horizon, butterflies gliding gently on thin air, and birds flitting from branch to branch. Brilliant colored flowers, green grass, and ice skaters skating gracefully on an ice rink. My Montreal Canadiens hockey team skating up the ice and fresh clean snow on the ground.

What if I were to awake one morning to discover that I could once again see faces, objects, and everything around me? I would be simply thrilled to death. Then what if I were to suddenly discover that I could once again see my beloved ones? Simply fantastic!

I will probably never give up hope of this. It is what keeps me going and there is absolutely nothing wrong in thinking, "What if?"!

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to keep on thinking what if! Visit www.afb.org to learn more.

The heartache of hoping

I am probably one of the most positive persons that you will ever hope to meet. I am always hoping and encouraging others to do the same. However, hoping does have its drawbacks, heartaches and big letdowns from time to time. Nevertheless, I keep on doing it.

I do my best to be realistic. I know that in my case, one of the few things that may help to bring back my precious vision would be a huge medical breakthrough. I lost most of my vision about seven years ago when I experienced a retinal detachment. My retina detached in three places and the doctors told me that it was one of the worst ones that they had ever seen. Still, I continue to hope but in order to avoid heartaches, I need to manage and temper my hopes. I need to keep my hoping under control. If I can manage to do this then I can avoid the devastating heartaches, but if I can’t then here is where I get myself into big trouble and eventual letdowns that are oh so hard for me to overcome.

I’ll keep on hoping; it’s what keeps me going and I encourage others to do the same. It never hurts to hope but it does hurt to hope beyond hope.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my blogs and thoughts with others. Never give up hoping.

The Hope Still Lives On

Last week as I sat glued to my TV watching and following the funeral of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, something in me was not just sad, but really sad.  When we were kids, my cousins used to cut out all of Senator Ted's pictures from my mom's magazines and the newspapers and then paste them into scrap books for me.  As a matter of fact, they did this for all of the Kennedys.  At that time, I was not really able to see pictures but after I had my first cornea transplant it was one of the first things that I did.

 

I remember so many years ago after I got my first cornea transplant, I raced to my scrap books to look at all of my treasured photos and boy am I glad that my cousins had so kindly done this for me.  I spent so many hours gazing at my favourite photos and I continued to follow the Kennedys as a family along with so many others who were my favourites and heroes and ones that I admired the most.  I kept memories of all of their photos safely tucked away in my mind and as I sat listening last Saturday to the Senator's funeral, I managed to conjure up pictures of him in my mind.  With precious little sight left now, it was all that I could have done to keep me going and remembering.

 

One could easily say that the Kennedy family has been burdened with a curse but what impresses me most about this particular family is this; their ability to keep on going despite the immense tragedies that have dogged them over the years.  Senator Ted in particular had to deal with so much; the tragic loss of his brothers, having to deal with two of his children's brushes with cancer, and his own errors in judgment which he has always readily admitted.  Yet for all of this, he never gave up smiling and his quote "The hope lives on and the dream shall never die" will always live on in my heart; and it's a quote that I would urge all blind and visually impaired persons to keep close to theirs. 

 

This Statesman managed to share his life not just with his family and the rest of his country, but also with the rest of the world.  He was a Father, surrogate father, stepfather, husband, brother, uncle, mentor, and friend.  A man of so many hats.  Rest in peace Senator Ted.  Thank you for sharing your life with us.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you, both sighted and blind, to go out there and live your hopes and dreams.