[Ohio-Talk] This is someone I just met read on.

[Andra Stover]

Thank you for sharing Richard. I agree with Eric, she needs to come to the
convention :-).

On Sun, Feb 23, 2020 at 7:16 AM Eric Duffy via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Wow! Make sure she gets to the convention Mr. President.
>
> Eric
>
> > On Feb 23, 2020, at 7:02 AM, Richard Payne via Ohio-Talk <
> ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> >       Dear Mr. Payne,
> >
> > Hello! I apologize for taking a bit more time to write to you than I'd
> > planned; but, this letter of introduction is no less important because of
> > the delay. The additional time, in fact, gave me enough courage to write
> an
> > introduction that's not simply superficial, but one with a bit of depth
> > (although I can only hope it's not too long!).
> >
> > My name, my nickname, is Piper. Piper was my mom's second-choice for my
> > first name. My mom's first pick? Ashley. My legal name is Ashley
> Elizabeth
> > Foster, and I do not feel like an Ashley. When my mom would say my name,
> it
> > felt like mine. But, I'll never again in this life hear my name spoken in
> > her voice as she passed away in December 2019 from brain cancer, and in
> the
> > tones of anyone else, the name simply isn't the same. And so, the
> nickname
> > first bestowed on me by my boyfriend - coincidentally the name of my
> rough
> > Collie, who was the first dog I owned as an adult - has become far more
> > comfortable to me than the name that appears on my bills and tax
> documents!
> > So, I am far more Piper Foster than I am anyone else, and so I write
> this to
> > you as Piper, myself.
> >
> > I am an artist: I play guitar, piano, once played the violin (if you can
> > call 8 years or so, "once"!); I paint, draw, and carve hiking sticks. My
> > hiking sticks are something I never considered art until I was invited to
> > show them at a downtown Dayton gallery this August at The Orphanage art
> > gallery! My life is infused with a need to learn, a sort of requirement
> for
> > creative growth, and a never-ending search for peace, love, acceptance,
> > co-existence, and harmony. It's not that I don't enjoy a decent debate -
> > it's that I believe each of us has far more in common than not, only most
> > people seem to relish in the discrepancies in their superficialities, and
> > too often, this leads to those surface-type traits become ingrained
> parts of
> > their personalities and lives. There is such a beneficent potential
> which I
> > believe humanity as a whole possesses; but, those who would rather seek
> > power, wealth, and other self-serving ends somehow manage to eclipse the
> > good in this world.
> >
> > I love animals for their honest. My dog doesn't lie...okay, well, he
> might
> > tell me he hasn't eaten yet, when he actually has, but who can blame him?
> > He's only the most handsome, smartest, kindest, sweetest Golden Retriever
> > boy in the whole wide world, and that's hard work that would surely make
> > ANYONE hungry! I love animals for their empathy. I love them for who they
> > are and their willingness - their way - of only ever being who they truly
> > are. They don't manipulate one another for bits of paper with dollar
> signs
> > printed on them. I love studying their own methods of communication,
> their
> > psychology, their training, their behavior, their temperament, and this
> > particularly applies to dogs - it long has been a passion of mine. I
> > remember sitting in the cubicle that was my office within the larger
> office
> > when I was a research attorney. I recall as if yesterday 0feeling so
> empty
> > with the assigned work, that - once compete - rather than attempt to
> achieve
> > another promotion to a larger cubicle with a nameplate with a more
> > impressive-sounding title, I would read books about animal training and
> > psychology for hours. I studied everything I could find online, anything
> I
> > could find at the local library; my interest, even then, particularly
> > aligned with dogs who were trained to assist those with varying
> > disabilities. The type of service dog who most interested me was the dog
> > guide.
> >
> > I was reading a book written in the 1980's about Leader Dogs for the
> Blind
> > when my boss walked in one day. I didn't look at him as I replied to
> > whatever his inquiry was, but I still wonder what he thought when he
> > eventually cleaned out my cubicle for me and boxed the little cache of
> dog
> > behavior and training materials I kept in my lower-left desk drawer. I
> wish
> > he hadn't had to do that - but, it was 2009 and I was so sick I could no
> > longer work. What was worse than that, I believe, was that I didn't know
> > why. It wouldn't be until 2010 that I would find out that, despite a
> > seemingly healthy appearance, a genetic deletion was quietly at work
> sending
> > my cell growth awry, creating fatigue and subtle symptoms long before I
> felt
> > any pain. I inherited a deletion in a portion of my genes called BRCA2 -
> > and, this deletion prevented whatever it is that controls the growth of
> > certain cells from doing its job, and in November of 2010, I learned I
> had
> > Stage 3b, BRCA2+ Invasive Ductal Carcinoma - breast cancer which had
> already
> > spread to the local lymph nodes of my arm. I was shocked, I went into
> > denial. I was 30.
> >
> > I underwent many type and rounds of chemotherapy, then surgery, then more
> > chemotherapy and 7 weeks of intense radiation. I went through hormone
> > treatments and in 2015, with a final surgery, I was finally finished with
> > treatment. I am cancer-free, and have been since 2011, but the sort of
> > aggressive cancer with which I once dealt was one which required
> throwing as
> > many "things" at it as possible to prevent its recurrence. The toxins
> which
> > destroyed the cancer cells so well also had an affinity for other types
> of
> > destruction, and for me, this meant they attacked specific cells within
> my
> > heart and my eyes, as well. I was left with permanent Cardiomyopathy,
> > left-sided heart failure, and by 2016, the eye damage had begun with the
> > development of bilateral, cortical cataracts, an adult onset of
> > accommodation insufficiency, strabismus, the destruction of photoreceptor
> > and other cells, and ultimately has left me classified among the legally
> > blind. But, I'd rather lose some of my eyesight - or, for that matter,
> all
> > of my eyesight - than have cancer. And, I beat the cancer. Some eye cells
> > were little cost to pay for the privilege of being able to call myself a
> > survivor of cancer.
> >
> > Always, I've been fiercely independent, often to the point of excess, and
> > sadly sometimes, unknowingly, to the detriment of those around me. When I
> > was diagnosed with cancer, I refused to allow my mom to come to the
> > oncologist's office with me - I wanted to do it myself. Somehow, it made
> it
> > less real, because it was just me going to the office, going through
> > treatment. If Mom had been along with me, it'd have had to be actually
> > happening, and I couldn't face it. What I didn't realize at that time was
> > how greatly I hurt her in my flawed decision-making; I can never make it
> up
> > to her. But, I can learn from what I have done and change and change is
> what
> > I hope I have done in the time since, learning to open myself up to be
> > vulnerable, to face both the good and negative experiences of life.
> >
> > The National Federation of the Blind National Convention is not something
> > I'd even have dreamed of attending two or three years ago. I would have
> been
> > too closed to go through the application process, too uncertain of my own
> > motivations - I'd have felt selfish or foolish. But, I find the more I
> ask
> > for help, the more strength I gain: it turns out I had that backward for
> > most of my 39 years on this planet. I now know that not only am I
> capable of
> > attending such a conference, but that part of that capacity comes from my
> > relatively newfound ability to both seek and accept help and guidance. My
> > independence is not compromised by the help of others; it's actually
> > enhanced by it.
> >
> > So, this is my letter of introduction, and I hope that it is along the
> lines
> > of what you had in mind when we spoke on the phone. This is me, my
> thoughts
> > and my life. If I can answer or elaborate on anything included here or
> not,
> > I'm more than glad to do so. Like my guide dog, I'm an extrovert, except
> I
> > don't occasionally break the rules of etiquette by flashing
> faux-sorrowful
> > brown eyes at a passing stranger in search of an extra pet from them.
> Thank
> > goodness!
> >
> > Thank you so much, Mr. Payne. I sincerely appreciate your time, your
> > patience, and your consideration of me as an applicant for a scholarship
> or
> > grant which would help me attend the NFB National Convention in 2020.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Piper Foster
> >
> > Piper Foster, J.D.
> >
> >
> > Richard Payne,  President
> > National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
> > 937/829/3368
> > Rchpay7 at gmail.com
> > The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> > characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> > expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> > between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> > blindness is not what holds you back
> >
> >
> > <winmail.dat>_______________________________________________
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>
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