[Nfbktad] how blindness has not stopped Terry Klarich

[Todd]

Wonderful story, Tonia!

Todd

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From: Nfbktad [mailto:nfbktad-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gatton, Tonia
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Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 2:28 PM
Subject: [Nfbktad] how blindness has not stopped Terry Klarich


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The Tuesday Inspirational Newsletter from Inspirational Speaker/Author
Charlie Adams

	
	
	

 

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While in Tulsa recently to deliver a seminar for the Dept. of Rehabilitation
Services meeting there, I heard the powerful message of Terry Klarich. Here
it is!

			
The remarkable attitude of Terry Klarich - a blind single parent who found
just the right way to honor his late wife ...

- by Charlie Adams - Inspirational speaker and author

 

Terry Klarich spoke after me at a recent conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma where
the Dept. of Rehabilitation Services brought me in to speak on the power of
attitude and how it impacts customer service. 

Terry is blind. That hasn't stopped him from raising three girls, being a
valuable employee at the energy company ONEOK or from wood working on the
side. He just finished a four poster bed for a client. He also has a sail
boat.  

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(photo of Terry and me and his guide dog Virgil)

Like many of the people I have studied over the years who have built and
kept a positive attitude, Terry utilizes humor. With his guide dog Virgil by
his side, he opened his Talk by saying one time a lady approached both of
them and blurted out, "Is that one of those blind dogs?"

Without missing a beat, Terry replied, "Ma'am, if it is, he and I are both
in trouble!"

He talked about how he doesn't have any lights on in his wood shop at night.
He joked how a neighbor came over and said there were no lights on. "I'm
blind," Terry said. "Don't need them." The neighbor replied: "Well, I am
turning them on....because it makes ME feel better!" 

Terry actually found humor in making his way to the podium after being
introduced. His dog got him close, but as he slowly stepped towards it he
bonked into it!

"Found it!" he said with a smile.

Terry was born two months premature back in 1963. He said back then they
didn't know a lot about taking care of premature babies. Babies eyes aren't
meant to be exposed to oxygen until birth. Doctors were so concerned with
keeping him alive that by putting him something with oxygen, which damaged
his eyes greatly.

He could see to a degree up until his teens when he had to stop doing things
his friends could do easily. One of the things I speak about is the solution
centered attitude. When Terry realized he wouldn't be able to drive, his
solution was this:

"I got a girlfriend that had a car."

During his college days they didn't have books in electronic form, so he
would have to hire someone to read for him. He would take a tape recorder to
class and hope the batteries would last. 

"I owe everything that I am to my mother Mitzie," he said with conviction.
"She didn't cut me any slack. One time it was my time to clean the bathroom.
I said I couldn't because I was blind. I said it to be lazy."

He paused.

"I ended up cleaning the bathroom."

"She made me do my own laundry," he added. "She would say, 'I don't know
how, but we will find a way for you to do things.'"

Terry then said something I think is very important.

"Helping someone is good," he said. "But doing for someone is not, in my
opinion."

She raised me with a find a way attitude," he said. "We had a pool where the
kids would jump from our roof into the pool. I know she cringed when I did
it but she didn't stop me. I know she spent a lot of time on her knees.
Another thing she did was say that she didn't want me to look blind. I had
this habit where  since I couldn't see faces I didn't see the point of
looking at the person speaking to me. If she saw me not looking at them, she
would kick me under the table."

"Of course after being hard with me ... now she is a real softy with my
kids!"
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Terry admitted his first marriage was not good. "I got married in 1990 and
had three girls," he said. "That marriage did not work out. Huge custody
battle. I don't know how many depositions I went to. Imagine, a blind guy
getting custody of his girls. I did. The Department of Human Services came
out to see if I could take care of them. They saw how I had all the food
organized. The guy said, 'Make them a meal.' He watched as I made spaghetti,
green beans and garlic bread."

Terry got married again and was very much in love with Cheryl. One day he
and his wife were sailing competitively when she became very tired after the
first race. Exhausted after the second they forfeited the third. Cheryl went
to the car and sat there as Terry broke down the sailboat. When he got to
the car she was crying on the phone while talking with his mom, a nurse.
Cheryl described her yellowish eyes and skin and was told by Mitzie to get
to the hospital. There they found it was pancreatic cancer. 

"She lived about a year," Terry said. "The company I work for, ONEOK, let me
work from home for the final two months. We had been saving for awhile for
that sailboat. I wanted to name it after her. She said no. She told me I
need to get own with my life. So I thought about how we both loved to listen
to the blues and we liked the song Misty Blue. I named the boat Misty Blue
because blue was her favorite color and that was my way of honoring her
without using her name like she wanted ... "

Cheryl has been gone since April of 2012. 

Terry talked about searching for and getting jobs over the years.

"I would submit resumes and never mention I was blind," he said. "I wouldn't
want to apologize for being blind. One thing I do in interviews is explain
how I will get to work and get around, even though that is not a legal
question for them to ask. I just make sure they know so it will ease their
mind. As someone with a disability you have to be better than those with
abilities. No one said life would be fair. I have worked hard. The IT world
here in Tulsa is pretty small. I have built such a reputation that I could
get a job anywhere here in it."

"I would never have considered disability," Terry said. "My mother would
have killed me."

After speaking in Tulsa and hearing him speak after me at the conference, I
called him up when I got back to my home of South Bend to tell him he would
be the subject of my Tuesday newsletter. I then asked how he was able to
sail.

"There's no way I could do it by myself,"  he said. "I need someone to steer
but when I am at the wheel I use my iPhone. The compass helps me maintain a
course. As far as sail trim I can feel what the boat is doing. I have
learned by the way it sounds and feels what needs to be done, but to get
that last 10% you have to see the tell tails which are the streamers
attached to the sails and I can't see them, so I need help there."

Terry Klarich is an amazing person with a positive attitude. He told me we
all need to understand how important encouragement is in life. 

"The way I look at it is that I have lived a very blessed life," he said. "I
wanted a sailboat and got one. I have a wood shop. If I had gone the
disability way I would have spent my life sitting in an apartment with
nothing to do."

What an awesome attitude! No doubt, when I deliver future talks on attitude,
one story I will share will be that of Terry.

Charlie Adams


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Charlie Adams Motivation

Keynotes for Dept. of Rehabilitation Services conferences, retreats and
meetings. Having reported on hundreds of people with disabilities who went
on to productive careers, I am excited how my keynotes and seminars can help
your events

"How to Build a Positive Attitude and KEEP the Darn Thing!"

This keynote, or 2 or 4 hour seminar is based on the 2013 book of the same
title. It helps to create cultures of positivity, and solution centered and
team centered attitudes. 


* Stoke the Fire Within 

This peak performance keynote is ideal for opening or closing conferences,
retreats, meetings and off-site days. 

* The Spirit of Customer  Service 

2 hour seminar often paired with How to Build a Positive Attitude and KEEP
the Darn Thing!

Contact information:

to visit charlieadamsmotivation.com click here
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