[stylist] Sharing a Valentine story

Wed Feb 15 16:24:16 UTC 2012

Robert,
I like this one. The images are so vivid, and there's that underlying theme
about Braille literacy.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Leslie Newman
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 8:02 PM
To: writers nfb
Subject: [stylist] Sharing a Valentine story

Hey gang, some of you have shared previous work and so here is something
that I wrote back in 2008, as one of my THOUGHT PROVOKER series (You'd have
to visit my personal website to catch the full meaning and scope of THOUGHT
PROVOKER- there are 154 of them all less than 700 words in length. Back in
2008 I received one of the first Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards.  

THOUGHT PROVOKER 130

To Braille with Love

Last Updated August 17, , 2008
First Posted- February 10, 2008

To Provoke Thought Is The First Step To Beyond

"Happy Valentine's Day!" chorused Sherry and Tom Hardy to the smiling couple
that was inviting them into their home. The Hardy's and Pam and Rich, the
Andersons, were members of a support group for parents of blind children;
the Anderson's were longtime members and the Hardy's were new.

"Hey, how was the lunch on this snowy Saturday?" Rich asked. He and Pam had
picked up Tom and Sherry's daughter Kathy and their own daughter Cheryl to
take both eight-year-old girls to a Valentine party, giving the Hardy's a
chance to go out for a romantic lunch and movie. And now the Hardy's were
over for a short visit to the Anderson's, then it would be Hardy's turn to
pick up the girls, take them to their home, giving Pam and Rich their
opportunity to go out for a special dinner and dancing.

"Wonderful." answered Sherry. "We took our time. It's great that Valentine's
Day fell on a Saturday."

"You bet ya!" said Pam. "Come on in. I have a fresh pot of coffee on and a
plate of Valentine cookies Cheryl made special for us."

Seated in the kitchen around the family table, the two couples dug into
their coffee break. "These are fantastic cookies. Your Cheryl is a great
little cook," commented Sherry, raising a cookie for another bite.

"Knew I was smart to pass up the restaurant's dessert--love the pink
frosting." added Tom.

"Oh, let me show you her card." Pam said, getting up and detaching a card
from a clip on the refrigerator door.

"Whoo!" cooed Sherry, looking at and running her finger over the front
surface of the card, opening it to see inside.

"Huh?" exclaimed Tom. "Braille . picture and all?"

"Yeah, she made it herself." said Rich, obviously proud of his daughter's
handiwork.

"She used her Braille writer." said Pam, pointing. "The border has full
cells down the sides, then dots 1-2-4-5's across the top, and 2-3-5-6's
across the bottom, making an even two-dot border all the way around. And you
can see the heart consists of full cells and parts of cells to get the right
shape."

"And she colored the heart, too. So creative!" continued Sherry. "And this
down here?" Tracing with a finger, "Words, I take it?"

Retrieving the card, closing her eyes, Pam began reading with her right
index finger. "I Love You Mom, Be My Valentine."

"Whoo, I'm impressed! With your finger no less." Sherry said, her face
showing a self-conscious mix of surprise and maybe guilt.

"Oh, Sherry . guess we've talked about this . parents learning Braille?" Pam
gave her friend a concerned look.

"Well yeah, Tom and me, our life's are just so...busy. And, you know, with
this electronic age, we have a computer in just about every room and there's
voice mail."

Tom added, "my God, Kathy is a wiz on the computer, you should hear how fast
she has that voice cranked! These kids today they've grown up with all these
electronics."

"Rich." Sherry looked at Pam' s husband, her face showing that something was
still eating at her. "Do you read Braille too?"

"Yeah, but I haven't gone so far to develop the tactual sense for reading
it. I cheat, I read it with my eyes." Looking to his wife for any sign of
guidance, or a warning perhaps. "With Cheryl's blindness, we feel supporting
and encouraging her lifelong literacy is ." Beginning to think he was going
too far with his pointed remarks. "Ah, anyway, it's fun!"

"Tom spoke up, obviously not offended. "Hey, so the card was for the Mom.
How about the Dad?"

"Oh!" both Pam and Rich chorused with big grins on their faces.

"Grab your coats, ladies and gentlemen!" said Rich rising. "We need to step
out into the back yard."

Outside. "Whoo, Whoo, Whoo!" hooted Sherry.

"How in the .?" Said Tom. "Did you guys get a picture of this?"

Before them the white-blanketed yard spread to the fence and at its very
center lay a one-foot tall, six-foot across, very pink heart , with white
geometrical rows of dots on its top surface. Walking up close, it was
evident that the heart was constructed of compacted snow and the white dots
were hand-formed snowballs arranged to create Braille letters.

"How did she get that snow painted pink?" Tom nearly stuttered.

Pam answered. "A spray bottle and one gallon of red Kool-Aid."

Standing near the broad part of the heart, Rich pointed. "This single dot is
a capital sign, followed by the letters in the word. That makes her words
here, cap L o v e, cap Y o u, cap D a d. Second line, cap I ' m, cap Y o u
r, cap V a l e n t I n e." 

Robert Leslie Newman

President, NFB Writers' Division

Division Website

 <http://www.nfb-writers-division.net/> http://www.nfb-writers-division.net

Chair, Newsletter Publication committee

Personal Website-

 <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info

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