How I Went Blind

Audrey's Place

I went through the door and began exploring.  My left hand found what I realized was a counter with cabinets underneath and above.  Then around a corner to a double sink and more counter space and cabinets.  At the end of the counter I came to a wall.  As I turned around to get my bearings my cane hit something.  My hands told me it was a small dining table and four chairs.

"You're really gutsy," Audrey said.  That boy trained you well."

"That, and my imagination maybe.  Um, do you have a fridge?"

"Of course, it's in that other corner."  There was only one corner left and I found it readily.

"Come on into the living room and let's chat," she said.  Ever so gently she took my elbow and guided me to a very comfortable chair.  I sat in it and she said, "There's an ottoman in front of you if you'd like to put your feet up."  I groped in front of me, found it, and asked, "Mind if I slip my shoes off?  I promise my feet don't stink."

"I don't mind at all," she replied.  "Mine came off at the door.  I never wear shoes in the house.  Alexa, play classical guitar."  The music began to play softly in the background.  I started feeling  very relaxed.  Audrey said, "Joe, tell me about your friend.  What's his name?"

"His name was Keith," I replied.  "A couple of months after he was born they found cancer in his left eye, so advanced they had to remove the eye right away.  When he was four they found it in the other eye too.  They did all kinds of treatment to kill that cancer and somehow save his eyesight but in the end they had to remove that one too, right after his sixth birthday."

"Poor kid!" Audrey said.  "It must have been so hard for him."

"Well, he never let it get to him.  He said he was so tired of being sick from the chemo and all that he was relieved to be done with it."

"What's he doing now?" Audrey asked.

"He died when we were twelve," I replied.  "They waited too long to remove his eye.  The cancer showed up in his brain and killed him."

"Oh, Joe!" Audrey exclaimed.  "That must have been so hard on you."

"Yeah," I said.  We lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

After a while Audrey asked, "Did I do wrong by getting you to patch your eyes?"

"Not at all. Like I said, the urge has been with me all my life.  Really, this is a magic moment."

"Because you can't see, or because of me?" Audrey asked.

"Well, it's all of a piece, ain't it?" I replied.  "You're lovely, inside and out, really, and I think we're meant for each other."