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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV>Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV>Please read and share the folowing message from Daniel Frye, Executive
Director of the NJ CBVI.</DIV>
<DIV>The December Commission Edition provides a strong theme for the holiday
season.</DIV>
<DIV>Keep well.</DIV>
<DIV>Keep the warmth of the holiday season in your heart.</DIV>
<DIV>Keep believing and raising expectations.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We care. We share. We grow. We make a difference<BR>Joe Ruffalo, President
<BR>National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey <BR>973 743
0075<BR>nfbnj1@verizon.net<BR><A
href="http://www.nfbnj.org">www.nfbnj.org</A></DIV>
<DIV>Your old car keys can be keys to literacy for the blind.<BR>Donate your
unwanted vehicle to us by clicking <BR>www.carshelpingtheblind.org <BR>or call
855 659 9314<BR></DIV>
<DIV>**</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> December2016 Commission Edition</DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 20pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Bodoni MT Black",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><IMG
id=Picture_x0020_3 alt=candy_canes_for_christmas_0515-0911-1921-1415_smu[1]
src="cid:48BAA619DDCF4EC682DE9086461D6587@JoeHP" width=96
height=96></SPAN></I><IMG hspace=12 alt=MC900030199[1]
src="cid:34A42A53AEB74EBB8AAAD1324730B8F8@JoeHP" width=70 align=left height=65
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src="cid:34A42A53AEB74EBB8AAAD1324730B8F8@JoeHP" width=70 align=left height=65
v:shapes="Picture_x0020_4"><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 24pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Bodoni MT Black",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>C</SPAN></I><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 20pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Bodoni MT Black",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>ommission
</SPAN></I><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 24pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Bodoni MT Black",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>E</SPAN></I><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 20pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Bodoni MT Black",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>dition<IMG
id=Picture_x0020_2 alt=candy_canes_for_christmas_0515-0911-1921-1415_smu[1]
src="cid:493A71FB78154C4EB55A9304803FDFE4@JoeHP" width=96
height=96><o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Bodoni MT Black",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>The
Monthly Newsletter of the NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually
Impaired<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>December
2016 – Volume 4, No. 12</SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: "Monotype Corsiva"'><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Daniel
B. Frye,
J.D.
Pamela Gaston<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Executive
Director
Editor<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<H1><U><SPAN style="COLOR: windowtext">From the Director’s Desk
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></U></H1>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>We
find ourselves in December, having almost reached the end of another calendar
year. Our staff and consumers are largely concentrating on the festive season
ahead. In that spirit, we have decided to abbreviate the <I>Commission Edition
</I>for this month, focusing instead on the peace, joy, celebration, and
reflective characteristics of the holiday season.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Please
accept my best wishes for a wonderful and rewarding holiday, in whatever
tradition or fashion you may observe it. The entire Commission community has
worked especially hard this year, and I can cite multiple examples of our
success. By the end of December, the Commission will, as usual, issue our Annual
Report from our State Rehabilitation Council that will describe in considerable
detail the 2016 accomplishments of our agency. Given these achievements, I hope
that you will—as the year comes to its conclusion—take time for yourself to
reflect on the worthwhile work you have performed and re-energize yourselves for
another challenging and engaging year.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>During
this time of national social change in which we find ourselves, the giving,
loving holidays that mark our calendars as the year fades should be particularly
cherished. May we all use this season to affirm the importance of our inherent
humanity, respecting the diversity of our world through acts of kindness,
compassion, mercy, and generosity? With these action principles in mind, I urge
us all to undertake measures, animated by the underlying motives of delivering
high-quality services to our consumers, promoting peace and joy among our
personal and professional communities, and encouraging a respectful dialogue
with everybody about what we might do to make this world in which we live a
happier, healthier place.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>The
holidays, and Christmas as noted particularly in the two stories featured in
this month’s publication, bring out the best of us. Our mission as an agency is
to provide blindness-specific education, training, and ultimately integrated,
competitive employment for our consumers. In order to realize progress in each
of these broad areas, but particularly prerequisite to finding meaningful,
remunerative work, blind, vision-impaired, and deaf-blind people must feel a
strong sense of self-confidence. It is this fundamental but intangible
self-expectation that all Commission programs, taken cumulatively, are designed
to impart. While education and skills of independence are critical to living a
successful life as one who is blind, vision-impaired, or deaf-blind, the truth
is that self-belief is the most important part of the equation. Resisting and
reforming public misconceptions about vision loss is, then, one of our most
important objectives as an agency with our mission.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Cultivating
a sense of self-confidence and transcending public misunderstanding about the
capacity of blind, vision-impaired, and deaf-blind people to live full and
rewarding lives is the prevailing theme in the two Christmas-related stories
that I have selected to reprint in the December 2016 <I>Commission Edition</I>.
Both of these stories are taken from two volumes of a thirty-volume set of small
books, known as the <I>Kernel Book Series</I>, published by the National
Federation of the Blind. These pocket-size treasures contain short stories that
indirectly educate the public about the normalcy of blind, vision-impaired, and
deaf-blind people. Each of these stories speaks to the capacity of their blind
authors to manage successfully the ordinary but wonderful aspects of living and
celebrating the rituals of the Christmas time. These sketches evoke the warm and
special aspects of the Christmas season, as individually experienced by each
writer, but also convey the universal truth that blind people can undertake the
responsible duties of contributing to the Christmas season as valued family
members.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>My
wish for the holiday ahead is that our organization’s work, and the messages in
each of the following stories, go some way to raising expectations about the
ability of blind, vision-impaired, and deaf-blind people to live normal lives,
contributing to our families and broader community circles in valued ways, but
ways that are, over time, not understood as being especially remarkable. Enjoy
the following stories, for the immediate delight that comes from Christmas
experiences shared and for the deeper messages conveyed, making it clear that
our community has much to share and is equal to sharing
it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 12.0pt"><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Daniel
B. Frye<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Executive
Director<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoSubtitle><B><U><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; COLOR: windowtext'>Learning Lunch
Reminder: <o:p></o:p></SPAN></U></B></P>
<DIV
style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 3pt dotted; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-element: para-border-div">
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>As
previously noted, these monthly sessions will see me meeting with five CBVI
staff and a member of our Executive Management Team to receive feedback or
suggestions on what the Commission might do that is new and exciting.
Please indicate your interest in being part of such an up and coming forum by
sending an email with the subject line “Learning Lunch” to my assistant, Melissa
Brown, at </SPAN><A href="mailto:Melissa.Brown@dhs.state.nj.us"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Melissa.Brown@dhs.state.nj.us</SPAN></A><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoSubtitle style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: windowtext; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Bringing Home the
Christmas Tree<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>By
Marc Maurer<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Christmas was for me the most wonderful
holiday of the year when I was a boy. There were many small surprises and much
happiness. Thanksgiving was memorable because I was able to come home from the
school for the blind which I attended for the first five years of grade school
to be with my family. There was always an enormous basket of fresh fruit as well
as a huge bowl of nuts to be cracked and eaten. But the best part about
Thanksgiving was that it signified the beginning of the Christmas season. Before
Thanksgiving, it was simply autumn. After Thanksgiving, Christmas was on its
way.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>My
Christmas problem was to find a way to obtain suitable gifts for my family and
friends. My allowance, the weekly grant from my father, just was not large
enough to meet all of the demands. When I was small, it was a nickel. By the
time I had reached high school, it had grown to the grand sum of a dollar. When
I was in the ninth grade (or maybe it was the tenth), I persuaded the newspaper
to put me on as the only blind paper boy in town. Every morning all three
hundred sixty-five days of the year, I rose at five o'clock to collect my
papers, deliver them, and walk home. The distance covered in the round trip was
a little over two miles. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>I
liked the walk especially in the midst of a snow storm. When the wind was
blowing, and the snow was falling, I felt humble. It seemed to me that God was
reminding us that He had created the world and everything in
it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>The
paper route brought in a little extra money as I remember it, between four and
five dollars a week. The increase in my financial well-being seemed dramatic.
During the summers I could mow lawns or do other odd jobs. One time I was hired
at a dollar an hour to roof a garage. The work was completed in twenty-nine
hours. But these summertime activities didn't help at
Christmas.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>It
was all right to begin thinking about Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.
However, planning for the most important holiday of the year before the season
arrived was out of the question. In my home town Christmas decorations were hung
in the streets before Thanksgiving, but our family ignored them until the proper
time. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>The
Christmas season was special and had to be saved until using it was appropriate.
This meant that I could not purchase Christmas presents before Thanksgiving.
Therefore, I had available only those resources which could be mustered between
Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sometimes the money ran out. Nevertheless, gifts
must be procured, but, buying them was not essential. They could be
manufactured, and sometimes they were.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>One
year I fashioned a wooden rifle for one of my brothers. Another time I baked
homemade Christmas rolls for a friend around the corner. Bread making was a
skill I acquired early. I was not the only one in my family who turned lovingly
to handicrafts for the Christmas season. One of my most treasured Christmas
presents was a hand-made wooden desk designed and built by my father. I used it
for almost ten years. Part of the delight of the Christmas season was that many
unusual things occurred. Visiting neighbors, friends, and relatives came
unexpectedly; mysterious packages arrived with contents that must remain secret
until the great day; plates of goodies were presented that had been made in a
kitchen whose customs were not the same as our own. The cookies and cakes were
not the same as the familiar standbys I had come to know so well, and some of
them were extraordinarily good. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>I
was the second of six children and the only member of the family who was blind.
My sister and my four brothers attended school in our home town. From the time I
was six years old until I was eleven, I attended the school for the blind. At
Christmas for two weeks or a little more we who were students would say goodbye
to the routine at this residential school. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>At
the school for the blind the wake-up bell rang at 6:30 in the morning. By 6:55
we were expected to be dressed with our faces washed and our teeth brushed. At
that time, we lined up to march from the dormitory to the dining hall for
breakfast. Breakfast began at 7:00 and lasted half an hour. Between 7:30 and
8:00, we were expected to clean our rooms and make our beds. My roommate and I
divided up the cleaning chores. I dusted the furniture while he dusted the
floor. Classes began at 8:00 and continued until noon. We marched in line to
lunch, which also lasted half an hour. After lunch we were free to play on the
playground for a few minutes. Classes in the afternoon started at 1:00 and
finished at 4:00. One period each day was devoted to gym class. After the 4:00
o'clock adjournment of classes we were free to play until we marched to the
dining hall at 5:25. After supper there was an hour of mandatory study hall.
Then for an hour we could read or play or do as we pleased. By 8:30 all students
were supposed to be in their rooms, and at 8:45 the bell rang for lights out.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Two
nights a week at the school for the blind there were special events. On
Wednesdays and Saturdays we were expected to bathe, and (before bath time) we
were permitted to go to the basement of the dormitory for "snack bar." Snack bar
was the name for the student-run store. At the snack bar we could buy candy
bars, ice cream bars, and a limited selection of penny candy. A prepackaged ice
cream cone that had been dipped in chocolate and nuts (we called it a drumstick)
cost fifteen cents. I didn't have fifteen cents very often, so my visits to the
snack bar were infrequent.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>On
Saturday the schedule for meals was the same as it was for the rest of the week,
but after our rooms had been cleaned and our shoes were polished, the remainder
of the day was free. On Sunday we were expected to dress in our Sunday clothes,
and we were then sent to church.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>When
the Christmas holidays came, all of this changed. At home there was no scheduled
time to wake up, no pre-set moment for breakfast, no routine for dusting the
furniture and making the bed. Furthermore, there were family members to play
with, and there were the exciting and mysterious Christmas activities. In the
kitchen there were homemade cookies and candies. The aroma of varnish and wood
shavings emanated from my Dad's shop in the basement. There were usually sewing
and knitting projects that had to be finished late at night so they would be
ready for Christmas. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>The
days are short in December, and in the midwest, where I grew up, they are often
snowy and cold. When school was out, we would tramp the fields and woods around
our town and find places to use the toboggan that our parents gave us one
Christmas. The cold felt good, especially at the end of the day when we got home
to sit by the fire. And the pungent aroma of clove and cinnamon that came
drifting from the kitchen was a mouth-watering promise of the cakes, the pies,
or the cinnamon rolls that could be found there. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>One
Christmas I read a story about the Yule Log, the large chunk of timber which in
English legend is traditionally set ablaze on Christmas Eve to initiate
festivities for the celebration of the holiday. I decided to cut such a log.
With an old handsaw we found, I set out to bring home the largest piece of a
tree that would fit in the fireplace. I measured the opening with a piece of
stick and marked the length by cutting a nick with the edge of my knife. The saw
was old and dull; the log was heavy, thick, and damp. It seemed to me that the
job of cutting it would take forever. When the cut was finally complete, I
hefted my prize and dragged it home. I rolled it into the fireplace and stuffed
as much kindling around it as I could cram into the opening. Our Yule Log burned
for many hours and brought warmth and cheeriness to the hearth.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Then
there was the Christmas tree. In our family we all went together to get the
tree. We would pile into the old 1954 Plymouth to go hunting in the Christmas
tree lots for just the right one. The various members of the family had
different objectives. Dad wanted the tree to be cheap, affordable if you want
the polite word. Mom wanted it to be full and pretty. We kids wanted it to be
big. When we arrived at the Christmas tree lot, the kids would spread out in all
directions, hunting through the trees. Every few seconds somebody would yell
that the perfect specimen had been located. The whole family would come to
admire it, and I would be asked to examine it with my hands to see what I
thought. The spruce trees were my favorite, the ones with the little short
needles and the teeny little pine cones.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>When
the best of the trees had been discovered, the price negotiations began. This
was my father's responsibility. A good tree was one that had plenty of branches,
no holes, a height of at least nine feet, no bare spots, and a nice Christmas
tree shape. Such a tree was acceptable, but it could be made much better if my
father got a "deal." If the asking price for the tree could be reduced by a
third or a half, our Christmas tree was one of the best. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>We
would climb back into the old Plymouth and lean out the windows so Dad could
hand us the prized possession. We would drive home slowly, freezing our hands
and ears clutching tightly to the tree, which we held pressed to the side of the
car. With four or five of us grasping the trunk, the branches of the tree filled
the windows on the driver's side of the car. It wasn't easy to see on our side,
so we honked the horn a lot at intersections on the way home.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>When
we arrived home, it was my father's job to set up the tree. Because of a number
of disasters (there is a particularly unfortunate Christmas morning that I
remember when the tree fell over in the middle of a number of packages) it
became the custom in our house to anchor the tree with a cord to at least two
separate brackets on the wall. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Then
it was time to decorate. This was Mom's special area of interest and talent. She
directed all of us in the process and added the finishing touches herself. When
the balls were hung, the tinsel meticulously arranged, and the lights lit, the
tree changed the living room from a nice place to be to the center of
enchantment. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>As I
remember the Christmases of my growing up years, it is clear to me that my
blindness was not a major ingredient. Christmas memories remind me of home and
of family members who care for one another. Gentleness, admiration, hope, and
faith of such as these are memorable Christmases made. I did not know, when I
was a student at the school for the blind, what my own life could bring.
However, as I prepare for Christmas this year, I am reminded of those joyful
experiences of long ago. I now have a family of my own. One of the important
ceremonies in our household is the procurement of the Christmas
tree.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>My
son David (a third-grader) asked me to help him build a Christmas present for
his Mom. Together we are cutting the wood and fitting the pieces. The staining
and finishing must be accomplished before the festive day. The aroma of varnish
will mingle this year with the smells of cinnamon and chocolate as we prepare
for the giving of gifts. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Perhaps the joy of the season is even
greater because there were many times when I wondered if it would be available
to me. Can blind people have good jobs and raise families? These are questions
which come inevitably to the mind of a blind student growing up. They demand
answers, but information is scarce, and sometimes the messages are
discouraging.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>When
I came to be a part of the National Federation of the Blind in 1969, I met
caring people who were willing to give me the benefit of their knowledge and
experience. I met those who had hope and faith. I came to be a part of an
organization of individuals who cared for one another. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>The
responsiveness, the support, the warmth, and the caring I found in the National
Federation of the Blind are reminiscent of the gentleness, the faith, and the
hope I had come to associate with the Christmas season. I have known the
commitment of the National Federation of the Blind for almost a quarter of a
century. In that time many thousands of blind people have been given
encouragement and support. Many Yule Logs have been cut, and many trees
decorated. A number of blind children have come to be blind adults with children
of their own. The blindness, which might have prevented a full life, was not
permitted to interfere. The Christmases for those blind people have been warm,
hearty, hopeful celebrations. We are planning for many
more.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoSubtitle style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: windowtext; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">Putting Up the
Christmas Tree<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>By Nathanael Wales<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>The
evening five days before Christmas was what had turned out to be a quiet evening
with my friend, a blind student at the University of California at Berkeley, and
her roommate at their apartment a few miles off campus. We were preparing for
the Christmas holiday, exchanging gifts, drinking hot chocolate, and thinking of
going out to a wonderful Italian restaurant a few blocks from the campus. It
occurred to us, though, that the decor of her apartment was not complete for
Christmas - the apartment needed a Christmas tree. So before we left for dinner,
we decided to fix that.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>My friend had an artificial
Christmas tree. Of course, a real tree may be more festive, but the plastic one
was more efficient for apartment living. We took our canes and went outside to
her storage closet, retrieved the tree which was packed in a long and narrow
box, and pulled out another larger box filled with several strings of Christmas
lights and three different garlands.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>For many years when I was
growing up, my family also had an artificial Christmas tree instead of a real
one. My father had always set it up and strung the lights. Only afterwards would
my sister and I hang the various ornaments my family had. This would be my first
time setting up a Christmas tree. I was a bit unsure as to how it should be
done, and being a bit of a perfectionist I wanted it to look good visually. I
decided to approach the problem as a puzzle. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>As an engineer, that seemed
very logical and practical. And it would be sort of an adventure both for my
friend who is blind and for me, too. Although we have met many blind people who
have done some very interesting mechanical things-from building all manner of
works of carpentry to overhauling an automobile engine to cutting down a
Christmas tree with a chainsaw, neither of us had yet met another blind person
who had assembled and decorated an artificial Christmas tree. So we set to work.
We went back into my friend's living room and first unpacked the long, narrow
box containing the artificial tree. My friend laid out the cloth apron for the
tree on the floor. This apron was, for the plastic tree, more aesthetic than
necessary. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Next, I assembled the plastic
trunk and supports for the tree. The trunk was designed in three segments: the
bottom segment into which the tripod supports attached and into which the bottom
branches attached, the middle segment into which yet more branches attached, and
the top segment into which the top branches attached and which had at the very
top four small, symmetrical branches. I found the assembly of the trunk and
supports relatively easy; the segments simply slid
together.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Next, I had to put together the
three dimensional puzzle of which branches went where. There were three general
types of branches: very short ones with needles all over which could be fluffed
out, medium ones with needles primarily at the ends, and long ones with needles
all over. It seemed logical that the shortest ones should attach at the top of
the trunk. After that, it seemed logical that the medium and medium-to-long
branches with needles only at the ends should be attached generally in the
middle of the trunk. As with putting together any puzzle, it was necessary a few
times to switch branches from one level to another if we felt some perceptible
inconsistency in the tapered result we wanted. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Finally, I attached the long
branches with needles all over to the lowermost segment, still keeping in mind
the tapered end product we wanted. Again, the ends of each branch easily slid
into small grooves protruding slightly from the trunk. As I attached each
branch, my friend fluffed out the artificial needles with her hand to give the
tree fullness.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>With the plastic tree
assembled, we then strung the Christmas lights. We began by plugging into the
wall the main junction box from which the first set of strings of lights
originated. My friend, her roommate, and I stood around the tree and passed the
end of each string around. Each of us attached it to opportune branches by
making a sort of loop out of the double cords connecting each bulb. We began
with the lowest branches and worked up to the top as we passed the strings
around amongst us. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>After two different sets of
lights, the tree was perfectly well lit; the multitude of small, glowing bulbs
made the plastic tree slightly warmer. The final string of lights contained a
star with a bulb in it; we bent the top four branches slightly up to delicately
balance the star on the top of the tree. I felt a bit of pride in the placement
of that star because, in a small way, it marked what was a first accomplishment
for me.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>Finally, we strung the three
garlands around the tree. Again, my friend, her roommate, and I stood around the
tree and passed each garland around. We worked from the bottom of the tree to
the top, resting the garland over the branches as we worked. With the third
garland around, the Christmas tree was put up and well
decorated.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style='FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif'>With the Christmas tree put up
and well decorated, my friend's living room was ready for the Christmas holiday.
The brightness and warmth of the tree in her apartment was a wonderful
reflection of the warmth of the hot chocolate in our bodies, the joy of our time
together, and the warmth of the season in our souls. And with the Christmas tree
put up and well decorated, I had the joy of participating in Christmas in a way
in which I never quite had before as a blind person. Perhaps next year I will
get a Christmas tree for my own apartment. Perhaps I may even get a real one.
And perhaps I will share this story as a small gift to other blind people so
that they can know they can put up the Christmas tree,
too.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 36pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Lucida Calligraphy"; COLOR: red; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>Best
Wishes to You All!</SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 36pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Lucida Calligraphy"; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Lucida Calligraphy"; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><IMG
id=Picture_x0020_1 border=0 alt=holly-mistletoes[1]
src="cid:47C548B7424C413EAF3715B25757FB1E@JoeHP" width=400
height=141></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Lucida Calligraphy"; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B> </P>
<H1 style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 0.25in" align=center><U><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt; COLOR: windowtext; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%">The Last
Words<o:p></o:p></SPAN></U></H1>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"
align=center><I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>“Let
there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” </SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>–
Jill and Sy Miller<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial",sans-serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'>*********************************************************************************<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style='FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman",serif; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%'><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>