Sam Millsap was a family friend who, though totally blind, owned and managed several restaurants in office buildings in San Antonio, Texas. For several years, my mother worked for Mr. Millsap as his bookkeeper. In cases like these, oftentimes the spouse, in this case Millsap’s wife, Ruth, acts as the sighted guide.
A blind person has to place complete trust in his or her sighted guide. The Turner couple is a good example. Mr. Turner was completely blind, a result of two injuries as a child, yet he held the rank of a GS 14 at Ft. Sam Houston. For recreational activities, Turner loved to water ski! I recall my husband and me meeting the Turners at a Texas Hill Country lake, (so many years ago!), as we also loved to water ski. Imagine our awe as we watched Turner confidently and skillfully ski behind the boat that his wife drove. They both had to be bravely resourceful.
Concluding with a whimsical story, we had a Red Heeler female dog, Lasso, who became completely blind having developed glaucoma. Being a healer, she loved to find something to “heal” and her victim of choice was a basketball. Lasso would chase that basketball all over the yard and beyond and run and after it and bop it back to the yard and chase after it again and bop it the other direction. Although blindness set in, she continued with her game. Lasso would bop the ball, listen to where it landed, run toward it, and bop it back to the yard. Her favorite bopping spot was against the rock garden border. That ball suffered many a bounce against those rocks. The minute one of us stepped outside, she would run and find her ball, sometimes with a little help from the “sighted helper”, and bop that ball, expecting us to play the game. And of course who could resist. Although blind, Lasso lived a happy life.
Millsap, Turner, & Lasso did not let blindness stop them
