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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Check out the below message. I met this woman shortly after being blinded in 1964. Peggie Chong talked about her during our March meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Peggy Chong [mailto:chongpeggy10@gmail.com] <br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, April 2, 2018 9:33 AM<br><b>To:</b> peggy chong <chongpeggy10@gmail.com><br><b>Subject:</b> Thinking young<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Good Morning Blind History Lady Followers: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Spring always makes me feel young. Other times of the year, I feel my age. We have many blind ancestors that always seemed young and help lift my spirits when I feel old. One from Nebraska comes to mind today,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Claire Owen.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Claire was born in 1876 and blinded at age eight from a fall off her horse. As a blind child she was sent to the school for the blind, graduating in 1898. After graduating she went to work as a music teacher in a public school, soon directing all music programs for all public schools in her district. When she decided to change careers, Claire moved to Des Moines and managed a rooming house to pay for classes. She received the degree of Doctor of Osteopathy, at Des Moines College in 1921. Returning to her home in Nebraska, she set up her offices in her home in Exeter, Nebraska and began a career that would last another forty years. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>While maintaining her practice she also served as the very first blind woman to serve in any state House of Representatives in the United States, elected in 1931 and then again in 1933. She traveled all over the United States, played piano for her church every Sunday and was still practicing at the age of 88 years young. She lobbied for better laws concerning the blind of Nebraska even into her eighties. She took her time to visit with and guide other blind individuals through life’s many tangles.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Women like Claire show us the way to stay young and feel like spring.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Peggy Chong<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Blind History Lady<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.theblindhisotyrlady.com">www.theblindhisotyrlady.com</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>