Guest Blog by Mommy

I took some time off to show friends my new haircut.  Gertie and Hobey Baker loved it.  The weather has been beautiful, so we are enjoying it while we can.

I asked Mommy to do a guest blog for me.  She is a writer too.  She had a bad cold, but she is feeling better now.  I will be back next time to tell you all about about our kidney walk next Saturday.

Love to you all,
Rudy the Vacationing Poodle

Challenges are Blessings in Disguise

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.  Sometimes that reason isn’t clear, but ultimately it will reveal itself.  It may take years and that is how we learn patience.

To fully illustrate my belief, I thought I should share a brief summary of my life.

At the age of nine, I was diagnosed with Type I diabetes.  At 19, I lost my sight because of the disease.

In 1993, at the age of 39, I was diagnosed with end stage renal failure resulting in my first kidney transplant in 1995.  A pancreas transplant in 2003 finally cured the disease that ravaged my body.

After several years, another kidney transplant was necessary, so in 2009, my husband Wayne donated one of his kidneys to me and saved my life.

One might say I have experienced a few challenges.  Along with these medical situations come the emotional, physical, and mental aspects that naturally accompany challenges.

I chose to look at these challenges as blessings.  If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be who I am today.  These challenges were more speed bumps in my life.  They may have slowed me down from time to time or turned my path in a different direction, but they never stopped me.

Getting diabetes at an early age taught me about my inner strength and ability to take care of myself.  Learning these facts would be invaluable as I went on in life.

Losing my sight ended up being my best blessing of all.  It led to so many wonderful experiences that would not have happened if I were sighted.

I’ll admit when I lost my sight it was a shock, at what I thought to be the prime of my life.  This blow happened suddenly and I was not prepared.  After taking a few months to regroup and adjust to my new circumstances, I decided to continue my academic career.

At the time, my parents were consulting with a counselor working with the services for the blind.  It was his advice to go to a blind school several states away.  That was something I had no interest in pursuing.  I wanted to return to the University where I started my collegiate endeavors.  I felt I needed some familiar references, only now I would be experiencing them from the blind perspective.  My parents were apprehensive about my decision.  The counselor told them to go ahead with my plan.  He was sure I would fail, leaving no other choice then to send me to the blind school.  Call it motivation or a challenge, but I accepted it.  Four years later I graduated Magna Cum Laude.

The greatest blessing in my life also happened when I returned to the school I chose to continue my education.  Before losing my sight, I drove to college.  This was no longer an option, so I would need a ride.  My first day back I met a taxi driver with a warm heart and an excellent sense of humor.  That was September 13^th, 1984 and we are still laughing!  That marvelous man is now my husband.  We only lived 6 blocks apart.  I walked by his family’s home every day to elementary school.  We never met until the day he drove me to campus.  A ride I wouldn’t have needed if I had my sight.  Everything happens for a reason.

Complications with my pancreas transplant caused me to lose my position at work.  At the time, I thought this was a mixed blessing.  I was deeply saddened by the loss of my job; it was one I enjoyed very much but it also gave me more time for recovery, which ended up being a long road, as I was twenty pounds under weight and extremely weak.  During this process, I was able to enjoy the pleasure of my dogs and observe their unique personalities.  The creative part of me emerged and I started writing stories about them.  My creative aspirations were something I had pushed into the recesses of my mind and heart.  I was an artist before losing my sight and thought that was gone.  While writing, I realized I was using the images in my mind.  These stories turned into a children’s book series called Rudy’s Little World.

After publishing my first book and presenting to groups of all ages, I finally discovered what I believe is my true calling.

Remember the degree I mentioned at the beginning of this piece?  It was a B.S. in Speech Communication.  I switched to that major because I liked the professors; they were very accepting.  Although it took twenty years, I now know the real reason for choosing that path.  Everything happens for a reason.

Embrace the challenges you encounter and don’t let them stop you.  They will make you stronger and lead you in the right direction.