Early Adjustments with RP

My Grandpa, Bill Cordes, has been living with RP his entire life. He was officially diagnosed in 1961 and had to retire from work in 1974. He had not worked at his job long enough to pull out a full pension, and his disability check had to be split between himself and his two daughters, my mom and my aunt. They were able to use this money after they turned 18 to get an education and buy a used car to get around. Throughout my life I have spoken to my grandfather a lot about how he has coped with the disease. Before he knew he had the disease and began losing his vision, he loved to drive, watch baseball games (especially the St. Louis Cardinals,) and walk or bike around Lacon, IL where he lives. The biggest adjustment was when he could no longer work. My grandma had to become the breadwinner at that point in time, as they could not afford to live off of his meager retirement and raise a family of four. My grandma began working second and third shift at Caterpillar, so my grandpa would make lunch for my mom and aunt before school as well as clean and maintain the house. Until he had knee replacements in 1997, he would vacuum and dust the entire house once a week.

My grandpa also LOVED to drive. He would go out on drives, make impromptu trips to St. Louis and other locations just for the scenery. Upon losing the ability to drive, he was crushed. I cannot imagine losing a part of my life that I absolutely love. He had to begin listening to the radio broadcast of baseball games as well as the news. The one good thing that came out of my grandpa's loss of vision was the increased capacity of his mind. He has always been an intelligent individual, but as he lost his sight, he was able to take in more information as well as retain it.

The technologies that currently exist to aid the blind are still very expensive. Amazon.com sells screen reading software for around $270. My grandparents were not wealthy people. They could not afford the even more expensive screen readers back in the 1970's and 1980's when my grandfather really started to lose his vision. He was able to get some assistance though. My grandfather loved to read books, and now without having a job, he had plenty of free time. As a result, he was able to get books on tape and listen to them. While today, the technology exists in items such as the kindle, he did not have access to read aloud books in the past in any other form.

All in all, my grandpa has had a huge adjustment by living with RP. This adjustment has been both slow as well as rapid. As he grows older, it is becoming harder and harder to live with rather than easier. I know that by having him in my life, it has made me appreciate the gift of sight every day of my life.