I Learned to Treasure My Eyesight

IT WAS a thrilling experience for me, a few months ago, to sit and watch the friends who had come to my “thanksgiving” party. I enjoyed it so much that I did not want the party to end. The “thanksgiving” was for the fact that I could see again, and as I contentedly watched them all happily talking and laughing, I thanked Jehovah that I could clearly see each one of them.

Even while I was watching them, however, my mind went back more than a year before, to the time that the doctor told me that my sister was dying of uremia. Soon afterward, my father died of a heart attack. Perhaps he was brokenhearted because of my sister’s serious illness. A month later, my sister died. Because of their deaths, when I had a health problem, it seemed sensible to go to a hospital in Manila for an extensive checkup.

I checked into the hospital at four o’clock one afternoon. After two days, I was about ready to go home, when I had a sudden, agonizing pain in my stomach and head. I called the doctor, and he gave me a tranquilizer. But the pain did not stop.

The back of my neck felt hot, and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, everything was dark. I asked for the lights to be switched on, but they said the lights were already on. I started trembling, as I realized that I could not see! Once again, I closed my eyes and opened them again. There was a slight change. Now I could see a gray mist. I could not distinguish anything, but I could see a kind of stirring in the mist if something moved.

For a while, I thought this would pass. But it did not! When I realized that it was not going away, I became hysterical. I begged for help and cried bitterly until they had to give me oxygen. Then I prayed to Jehovah for aid and felt much calmer.

Encouraged by Friends

My eyes were examined repeatedly in the hospital, but all came to one conclusion: there was no organic disease! I became confused and felt that I was losing my grip on reality. My husband contacted some of our Christian friends, who quickly came to visit me. Their association encouraged me immensely. I started to feel better inside, and although my eyes did not improve, I forced myself to act normally so as not to add to the burdens of my husband, Manny.

There was no change in my condition in the hospital; so it seemed that I might as well go home. There some friends and my two children, King and Ruth, were waiting. For some time, there was no letup in the visits of friends from the different congregations. Some cooked, some cleaned, and some just chatted with me. All of this was very strengthening, but I knew that the brothers were busy too. So, eventually, I thanked them and said that since I had two big children (King was 15 and Ruth 13) they could help me now.

Living Without Seeing

There were times, when I was alone, that I could not help but weep a little, reflecting on the thought that there seemed to be no possibility of my eyesight’s returning. But then I would quickly pray to Jehovah and feel happy again. After all, my situation was not nearly as bad as that of the Bible character Job! Besides, I had two fine children and a wonderful husband. This in itself was cause for gratitude to Jehovah.

Around the house, I quickly got used to doing my usual chores. After about a month, I could do just about everything I did before, although not so quickly. I did the marketing with a companion Witness, and did the washing and cleaning alone. I also prepared and cooked food, although frying posed some problems. Sometimes I would be scalded with hot fat! I could tell when the food was cooked by tasting it.

Manny and the children agreed among themselves to treat me as they did before, and not as an invalid. So, just as before, they would say: “Mammy, give me some water, please,” or, “Honey, would you give me my socks?” And I was expected to do it! This did wonders for my self-confidence.

Nevertheless, I did need help, and my husband and children were very good. The children, particularly Ruth, benefited a lot. They had to take a larger share of the household responsibilities, and this taught them how to work. Often I would make mistakes, especially at first. When the children were at school, I sometimes tripped, cut myself or was bitten by the dog because I could not see to avoid him. But I tried to be careful, and had no serious accident.

I did learn to appreciate the other senses that Jehovah has provided. Lacking sight, my senses of hearing, touch and taste became keener. And my memory improved immeasurably. I was able to distinguish coins by feel, while I folded paper money in different ways according to its denomination so that I could recognize it by touch. Even now that I can see again, my memory is still very sharp, and my hearing quite sensitive.

Christian Activity

Manny and the friends in the congregation were a great help in my keeping on in regular Christian activity. I stayed up-to-date with the new publications because Manny would read them to me at night before we went to sleep. At the meetings I was able to comment, thanks to our advance study together. I joined in the singing too. My husband would quickly read to me the words to be sung. I would sing them out loud, while he quietly read the next line to me.

I was able to share in house-to-house preaching and continued to conduct a Bible study. Others, of course, would have to read the scriptures and the questions from the publication. But I would ask additional questions to highlight important points. In this situation, I was very grateful that I had used opportunities beforehand to study the Bible and build up a fund of knowledge! The lady with whom I conducted a Bible study had seemed a little indifferent previously. But after I became blind, she made very fine progress.

So my prayer was answered. I was able to keep on serving Jehovah and find joy and success in that service.

Eyesight Returns

For about eight months, I could see only that gray mist. I persevered in visiting various doctors and taking the medicines they prescribed, although there seemingly was no improvement. But about two months after I stopped taking the prescribed medicines, I felt a little better. Gradually, I could see vague shapes, and the gray mist disappeared. Though everything was still white, this improvement helped me in my washing and cooking.

A year passed. Although I could see some colors, I often felt dizzy, as if I were under water. Everything would move around and then disappear. Although my sight was still very weak, I could recognize people when they came close. Finally, during the 13th month of my illness, I looked at a can of cookies and was able to read the letters on the label. My sight had returned!

So there I was, sitting at my “thanksgiving” party, feeling intense gratitude to Jehovah for so many things. I was grateful, of course, for my returned sight. I was also grateful for all the things that I had learned because of having been blind for a period of time. I felt so much closer to my Christian brothers, because of the intense love they had shown me when I needed it most. I treasured very much the warm love that existed in our family. We were so much closer because of what had happened. Having had to rely heavily on Jehovah, I felt so much closer to him too. I could sense that my relationship with him had deepened. And I had learned that the most precious privilege we have is our service to him.​—Contributed.