When Santa Lost His Eyesight

By: Alex Castillo Most people know about Santa Claus. He’s the Jolly old fellow who along with a team of flying reindeer and tireless elves, work year round so that on one night out of every year, they can bring presents to children and adults all over the world. What many people are not aware of, is that one year, Santa began noticing that his vision was not what it used to be. Of course, he did not want to admit it to himself, but Driving that sleigh at night, and being up there in the sky with all of those airplanes zooming by, made him feel quite unsafe. It was no surprise when news started being gossiped about in the North Pole that Santa had gone blind, and that he was quitting the holidays. He became depressed, and without his work, he lost his sense of purpose in life. The man was a real sad mess. On one of those special Holiday nights, everything started going downhill and Just got worse and worse. The naughty and good lists were becoming a blur, and he handed out the wrong toys to more than 1 billion people. I know what you might be thinking at this moment, If Santa had gone blind, you would have surely heard about it. I’m not saying this is all true, but was there one year in which you received absolutely the most unlikely gift ever? Well, if the answer is yes, then this story might make a little sense. After getting home that night, Santa could do little more than lock himself up in his office at the toy factory, and no matter how hard anyone tried to cheer him up, he could do absolutely nothing for a very long time. This is the story I heard last year when I was visiting friends in Ruston, Louisiana. They say that one year after he had lost his vision; Santa came down there to receive training at their blindness center. “He could barely even see Rudolph’s nose,” they said, “He had lost about 75 pounds when he had first arrived, and wouldn’t even touch a cookie.” “he’d get real close to ya when he was talking,” they would all whisper, “Couldn’t tell north from south even if he was holding a compass: bless his heart.” And apparently the entire town knew about this phenomenon. So well-known was the story down there that a writer by the name of Jerry Whittle wrote a play about the whole ordeal, and everyone in town came to see the production. When I asked how come Santa didn’t choose Nebraska to come and train, after all, we have an awesome center right here, and it would seem the familiar choice with all the snow we get, howling winds, and freezing weather, the answer I received was: “well, Nebraska? With all that snow up there? He’d be recognized in a heartbeat if he stepped outside dressed in all red in his Husker gear. “They said: “Down here, he’s just another blind guy with a beard.” The more I thought about the story, about this blind and depressed Santa Claus, the more sense it made. Often when people start to lose their eyesight, they feel ashamed, and even worthless. People find themselves almost transforming from a productive and contributing member of their family, or community, to just sitting passively, watching life and everyone else pass them by. We often confuse the inability to do, with the inability to see. And all that it would take for us to get back into our routine, or even find a more exciting and challenging one is to simply understand that with some blindness training, many doors can open up with the promise of opportunity. Training centers do not create Santa Claus’s. But they can help Santa figure out how he can do his job as a respectable blind person non-visually. As I recall, the play ended with Santa making the decision to keep the toy factories open and to stay in the Job as Santa Claus, and arriving at the North Pole to continue his yearly duties, with some new blindness skills and alternatives. It was a true happy ending. But the people in Ruston tell a different story. They say that he didn’t go back to the North Pole right away. “Oh, he had some trouble with the training,” they said. At first, he was always lifting those sleep shades. They said he would use the excuse of being overheated to lift them and peek during every class. He didn’t like travel very much, they said: “Oh, Santa, Santa, you would see him just hiding when it was time for travel class,” But what surprised me the most was when they told me: “the first time Santa stepped into the wood shop and heard those live blades running, he almost fainted.” One would think that someone who has been working with factory machinery their whole lives would be able to handle an arm saw. As time went by, he settled into the center and became an excellent student. But, after training, he didn’t go back to the North Pole right away. He wanted to try out a new career. He went to work at this Cajun restaurant as a cook in the next town. During training, Santa had discovered that he had let Mrs. Claus do all the cooking their entire marriage, but he actually enjoyed working in the kitchen. “Could you imagine that?” they said, “Santa as a cook in a Cajun restaurant?” I suppose he just felt like he wanted some independence. Like many people after they finish blindness training, he must have felt a bit rebellious and must have wanted to prove to anyone that he could go far beyond the common expectations for a blind person. It wasn’t until the Mrs. Threatened to come and get him that he decided to go back up north. Sometimes the path to independence isn’t obvious and clear. Sometimes, like Santa, we need to figure ourselves out for a little while. Sometimes, blindness gives us an opportunity to learn and make decisions which vary greatly from our past, and that we would have never thought possible if we had not lost our eyesight. And sometimes, we just get a stronger sense of who we are. But, The first step toward independence, and starting your life, or getting it back is recognizing when it’s time to receive training, and then going through that training in a program that will allow you to fully realize yourself as a respectable blind person. After all, this is our life, and we live through our choices. As for Santa, You can decide to believe this story or not, but the children and grownups are still receiving presents on time and without any strange mix-ups. Polls show that he’s been doing a better job year after year. And just the other day, I read a review about some new restaurant opening up on the North Pole which specializes in southern cuisine. Note: This Story was based on the play written by Jerry Whittle.

The Holiday Season is Approaching

The holiday season is approaching, and that means that decorations must be arranged, turkeys and ham must be carved and cut, all sorts of delicious foods prepared, and everyone is in the spirit of giving, helping, and doing for others. Yet many of us during the holidays don’t feel as if we can truly be a part of the celebration. Sure, we can all take, we can all enjoy from what others have to offer us, but sometimes, when we feel as if we are not able to truly give back in a significant way, especially during a time when everyone else seems to be doing so, the feeling of helplessness and being a burden seem to overwhelm us. During these times, it might seem easier to simply keep out of sight, to let those who can truly help, can truly give back, and can really be a contribution, do what must be done. It might seem a good idea to just stay out of the way, especially if we can’t see enough to carve the turkey, cut a slice of pie, cut down a holiday tree and set up the decorations, help move furniture around, and do all of those other things that our sighted family members and friends seem to do effortlessly. There are times when we do try to contribute, and are met with: “oh, that’s ok, I’ll get it.” Or “don’t worry about that, I’ll have one of the kids take care of it.” And we all know that our friends and family members mean well, but what they are really saying, and what we are taking from these comments are that such tasks, no matter how difficult or menial, are not going to be done correctly by us. It’s much more convenient that someone with sight take care of things, even if that someone might be a 7 year old child, or a person with much less mobility then us, someone who if it had not been for our lack of vision, would never have been asked to take on that responsibility. It isn’t easy to go from feeling helpless to suddenly challenge the world and prove that you are just as capable as everyone else. But we can start to change those thoughts of helplessness a little at a time. One of those ways is to be around people who do the things you want to do. Just from being around confident blind people, individuals who are either dealing with their vision loss or blindness in ways that appeal positively to us, we can pick up tricks, techniques, ideas and find great support for handling those situations that alone, have overwhelmed us in the past. The other day someone told me that their whole lives, they had been afraid to carve a turkey because they did not feel comfortable with their vision and using a really sharp knife to carve the holiday bird. But after observing a fellow center client saw through the turkey like an expert, under the use of sleep shades, they were convinced that they had been afraid of nothing for a very long time, that this was a simple task, and that they were ready to go home and carve their own turkey for their family during thanksgiving. Hey, something to consider is that bird is going to be eaten whether the lights are on or completely off, and believe it, if the lights go completely off on thanksgiving, someone will still carve the bird, serve the food, uncork the wine, pick up after the kids and nobody would say: “well, perhaps we better wait until tomorrow morning to eat because we will be able to have enough light to see and serve the food by then." Let’s not be afraid to do something because we think that someone with sight might be able to do a faster, better, or neater job. Perhaps your first Turkey will not be beautifully carved, but your second turkey will certainly be better, and the third, and forth and fifth will increase as you gain experience and confidence carving, or hauling wood, or setting the table, preparing the mashed potatoes, walking the neighbor’s dog, washing a friend’s car as a gift for getting free rides to and from the supermarket, anything we can think of. The more we do it, the better we will be at it. But we need to start somewhere. Perhaps this year we will carve the bird, perhaps next year we will prepare it, perhaps the year after we can pass on what we learn to someone else. Every journey no matter how large or small begins with a first step. Ask questions, meet people who have gone or are going through the things which you are living through, but remember, don’t remain stagnant. Step out of your comfort zone, even if those first few steps are small. Happy Holidays Alex Castillo.