[NFBMO] From the Chapter Presidents' Mailing List: Fwd: It is with a heavy heart that I send this to you

Thu Nov 17 01:46:02 UTC 2022


-----Original Message-----
From: Chapter-Presidents <chapter-presidents-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of David Andrews via Chapter-Presidents
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2022 9:40 PM
To: chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org; state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org; -list at nfbnet.org
Cc: David Andrews <dandrews920 at comcast.net>
Subject: [Chapter-Presidents] Fwd: [NFBC-Info] It is with a heavy heart that I send this to you

FYI:

Dave


>To: NFB of California List <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>, 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
>  <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Thread-Topic: It is with a heavy heart that I send this to you
>Thread-Index: Adj30xa7f7zF5HiESM6AAO9EcWaMPA==
>Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2022 02:45:37 +0000
>Subject: [NFBC-Info] It is with a heavy heart that I send this to you
>From: "mike michaelhingson.com via NFBC-Info" <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
>Cc: "mike michaelhingson.com" <mike at michaelhingson.com>
>
>Hello,
>
>In April 1972 I attended my first meeting of the Orange County chapter 
>of the National Federation of the Blind. It was an adventure, and I 
>chose by attending to explore this new and for me different world. 
>Through the federation I have been involved in many adventures and am 
>certain there will be more. In 1976 I began an 18-month assignment from 
>Dr. Jernigan to help Dr. Ray Kurzweil bring his dream of a reading 
>machine for blind people to fruition.
>
>I think my greatest adventure was not, however, directly related to the 
>NFB. Oh, a Federationist started me down an unexpected road when, in 
>January of 1982, he introduced me to a woman, Karen Ashurst. Little did 
>I know that day what would happen. Suffice it to say that Karen and I 
>were married on November 27, 1982.
>
>Karen and I began to share not only NFB adventures but many others as 
>well. Probably many of you are familiar with what must be the most 
>significant one, I escaped from Tower One of the World Trade Center on 
>September 11, 2001. In 2011, Thunder Dog; the story of a blind man, his 
>guide dog and the triumph of trust was published. If you did not know 
>Karen directly, but if you read Thunder dog you did get to meet and 
>know her.
>
>Yesterday, November 12 2022, just 15 days before we would have 
>celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary, Karen passed away. Her passing 
>was somewhat expected, but not so soon. She discovered a wound, 
>probably from a pressure sore, in late July. Yes, a pressure sore as 
>Karen is a paraplegic and has been in a wheelchair her entire life. As 
>I love to say, she reads, and I push. Anyway, the sore eventually 
>required her to go to the hospital in late July.
>
>She returned home on August 28 with a healing wound, but with an 
>extremely diminished appetite and a great deal of pain. Karen has 
>suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis since January of 2017. She has been 
>receiving infusions of medications to diminish the RA, but those 
>infusions seriously lower her immune system. She had to stop the 
>infusions in August while in the hospital. This was because lowering 
>her immune system further could result in more wound infections. The 
>other side of the coin is that it caused Karen excruciating pain. Over 
>the past three months the pain took its toll as her appetite diminished 
>and she couldn't even swallow much food.
>
>This past Monday, we put her back in the hospital. Over this week her 
>strength and stamina dropped precipitously. Yesterday, at the 
>suggestion of her doctors with agreement from Karen's sister, a retired 
>CCU and ICU nurse, we stopped life support.
>
>Now, we move on. I write this long message as I know many of you had 
>some contact and knowledge of Karen. I want everyone to know fully 
>about her, what happened to her and what happens now. I intend to 
>continue to be active where I can. I will not stop moving forward as 
>that would be an insult to Karen and all our 40-year marriage meant to 
>both of us. I will continue to travel and speak. I will continue my 
>work with accessiBe. I will work as I can to support the NFB.
>Most of all, I will have and treasure 40 years of memories with Karen. 
>Life goes on and it is what I intend to do as well.
>
>God bless you, Karen. You always are and will be at the forefront of my 
>mind and heart. For all of us here on Earth, let's continue to move 
>forward and grow until the entire world understands and believes that 
>"disability" does not mean inability, but rather such is just a 
>characteristic.
>
>Thanks for reading. If you knew Karen and are saddened by this message, 
>don't be. Instead renew your conviction for equality for all of us. I 
>know Karen today is, as Dr. tenBroek would say, "Within The Grace of 
>God".
>
>Best Regards,
>
>
>Michael Hingson
>
>The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
>"Speaking with Vision"
>Michael Hingson, President
>(415) 827-4084
>email: mike at michaelhingson.com<mailto:mike at michaelhingson.com>
>To check on Michael Hingson's speaking availability for your next event 
>please visit 
>http://www.michaelhingson.com<http://www.michaelhingson.com/>.
>I invite you to listen to accessiBe's podcast "Unstoppable Mindset", 
>where Inclusion, Diversity and the unexpected meet. We are excited to 
>share that Unstoppable Mindset has been named by Podcast Magazine as 
>its February 2022 editor's pick. The podcast is hosted by Mike Hingson 
>and can be heard wherever you can find podcasts or you can visit 
>http://www.michaelhingson.com/podcast. When you listen to Unstoppable 
>Mindset please take the time to give us a five star rating. Thanks.
>_______________________________________________
>NFBC-Info mailing list
>NFBC-Info at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbc-info_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>NFBC-Info:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbc-info_nfbnet.org/dandrews920%40co
>mcast.net


_______________________________________________
Chapter-Presidents mailing list
Chapter-Presidents at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-presidents_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Chapter-Presidents:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/chapter-presidents_nfbnet.org/dangarcia3%40hotmail.com