I first met Michael shortly after I started working at a wildly dysfunctional call center connected with a large federal agency. It was my first full-time job, and Michael went out of his way to teach me about the arcane procedures we were supposed to follow while answering customer questions.
Over time, we became friends. During meals together and conversations by phone, I learned that he, like me, had been totally blind since birth. We were also recent college graduates…..
Many memories flooded my brain when I heard about the video of Ray Rice knocking out his then fiance with one punch in a hotel elevator. I remembered that many of the important women in my life were victims of domestic violence. I thought about the many hours I spent counseling victims of domestic and sexual abuse as part of my social work training. And I remembered how activists used domestic violence to trash the character of those with whom…..
Since moving to Columbia, Missouri, in 2008, I have been a client of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind (RSB), a state agency that assists people who are blind to become more independent. While during the past six years I have done some consulting work; written and continue to market a memoir; composed several musical pieces that have been performed locally and internationally; manage the relationship between two guide dogs and standard poodle pets; do volunteer work; and serve as husband…..
Today, some among us might be dreaming of catching J.K. Rowling’s fictional Hogwarts Express for the annual journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, anticipating the Sorting Hat, the welcoming feast, an irksome poltergeist, and a new year of magical education and adventure. I’m thinking of Aunt Marge.
Aunt Marge, the sister of Harry Potter’s adopted father, was a large, husky woman with a booming voice. She usually lived alone with twelve ill-tempered dogs, except when she visited Harry…..