Your mind is a map. It records everything you do and everywhere you go. You just have to learn how to read the map.
This is Ruby's story.
I was six months old when I had my
first heart surgery. I couldn’t breathe. My parents took me to the hospital
where the doctors diagnosed me with a type of valvular heart disease. One of my valves didn’t close
completely at birth.Arriving at English Conversation Group
I had
another heart surgery when I was 14, and then another just this year. I’ll need
more in the future. For now I'm doing well.
My parents divorced when I was seven. After
that I didn’t see them much or live with them – I lived at school in the dorm.
It was a regular school, not one for the blind or the disabled. In our high
school you have to choose a major and a minor. I chose music. My mom had been
my piano teacher, so music was already familiar to me. I majored in viola and
minored in piano. I practiced 8 hours a day.
When I graduated from high school I
entered Tamkang University or TKU. It’s a private university here in Taipei. This
time my major was Japanese and my minor was German. Government scholarships
kept me in school. When I graduated, I became a teacher for a junior high
school.
I am
also blind.
It can take over 100,000 times to learn a new skill when you are blind.
Simple things for everyone else can be very difficult. It’s a challenge when I can’t find the water dispenser. Getting the water into my water bottle is difficult. Every day tasks are complicated.
I
worked for 7-½ years as a teacher. Then my dad got liver cancer. In Taiwan,
when someone gets sick, it is the responsibility of a family member, usually
the oldest child, to take care of them. I am an only child. So I quit my job
and went to live with my father in the hospital.
Someone
stole my dad’s ID, and used the ID to fraudulently buy a car. I sued him. It took 8
years of my life. I had to go back and forth from the lawsuit activities to the
hospital. After four years in the hospital, my dad passed away. That was three years ago.
This year I lost the lawsuit.
Sometimes I still miss my dad.
Now I am a masseuse. I went to school for 2 years to learn the trade, and have been doing it for over 7 years.
Sister Coffey's first professional massage. |
Taiwan does not have a lot of mobility services for the blind. I do the best I can. But I do have a cell phone that reads my messages to me. That’s an easy way for me to communicate with others. It also tells me what it sees in photos that I take.
The camera tells me what the image is in the screen. |
A photo of Elder Coffey |
I want to help change the laws or policies in Taiwan to provide more resources for the disabled. My philosophy in life is nengliang ( 能量) – or energy. A blind person can do almost anything. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me or think I can’t do things. I’m just an ordinary person, almost like everyone else. Blind people have many capabilities. You just need to give them a chance.
Ruby continues to advocate for the disabled. Her life is exemplary in showing that disabilities need not stop a person from pursuing their goals and dreams. In spite of all the challenges she has faced, she retains her self-reliant lifestyle with a cheerful attitude, optimism and grace.
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