My Kaleidoscope Eyes

Book excerpt: Pamela Edwards was going blind. What job could she do without vision? How would she support herself and her children? When Pamela received her retinitis pigmentosa diagnosis, it sent her world into chaos. As a single mother of three small children, she had to fight. Giving into the blindness was never an option. She needed to find a way but feared time was not on her side. With the help of those closest to her, she found the resources and confidence to persevere. Consumed with self-doubt, Pamela pursued training and education to help her function in daily life without vision. Every experience taught her something new about herself and helped her to go on another day. Despair consumed her, but she reached deep within and searched her inner soul. She wrapped herself in music. She found joy in her children. She prepared for a future without sight. And she journaled almost every day. But with each passing day, month, and year, she waited for the morning when she would wake up to complete darkness. Many years later, with a small field of vision remaining, Pamela revisited her personal journals from the years when she struggled to make it through the day. She saw them in a new light. The grief that had overwhelmed her had not kept her from finding joy and purpose in life. The journey brought her full circle in her healing and self-growth. Through every bittersweet hardship, she was transformed. She replaced the days of feeling inadequate with days of creative self-expression. Now, she sees her life for what it is and what it has always been. A kaleidoscope of beauty.