Braille Monitor July 2008
by Everette Bacon
From the Editor: Everyone has a story, and that tale may be the inspiration
that someone else can draw strength and inspiration from. I don�t know why Everette
Bacon sent this sketch of himself to Ron Gardner last winter. Ron is president
of the NFB of Utah. He recognized the potential these few paragraphs might have
to inspire others, so he sent the email on to me. Now meet Everette Bacon. He
did not have early training in the skills of blindness. His parents did not
receive good advice about how to raise a blind son. Yet he is living a full
and productive life and is clearly passing along what he has learned so that
he can help others. This is what he wrote:
My name is Everette Bacon. I was born July 2, 1970. I grew up in Southern California
before moving to Texas after I graduated from high school. I was born with what
the doctors thought at the time was retinitis pigmentosa. It was hereditary
on my mother's side of the family. Five of us were blind. I was the only boy,
and for some reason I had better vision than the others.
For a long time I was told that I could pretend away my blindness because I had so much useable vision that there was a good chance I would not lose vision like the other family members. I went through high school looking down on other blind kids and never associating with them because I knew I was different. I was told I'd never need Braille or a cane, so for many years I didn't use one. Not until I entered college did I realize I was losing vision and that my life would probably have to change. I made it through college still holding onto the false hope that I was different. I met my wife in college and married her right after graduation. She was the first person to convince me that I needed to carry a cane. My family always believed the doctors when they said that I did not need one. I didn't have any training with the cane, but as I began using it, I felt more confident walking by myself in downtown Dallas and Houston.
We moved to Salt Lake City in 2004, and I met Nick Schmittroth,
Ray Martin, Bill Gibson, Karl Smith, and Ron and Norm Gardner. These male role
models, all blind and all carrying canes, changed my life. These were the kind
of men I wanted to become, and they helped mold me into the Federationist I
am today. I now work for the state vocational agency serving blind people as
the assistive technology specialist. I have earned certification and a master�s
degree in rehabilitation teaching. Fellow Federationists, I am living proof
that you can do it.