There danced into my class one day, a red-haired angel named Janie. Little did I know what an impact I was to have on her life or she on mine. Janie had the curliest red hair I had ever seen which went beautifully with her brown eyes and the splash of freckles across her nose. She had a smile that lit up her whole face and a giggle that started deep down inside making her whole body shake as it bubbled to the surface. This joyful four-year-old angel always left in her wake a sea of smiling faces.
One day I had the pleasure of sitting by Janie on the playground bench. I knew that a fairly lengthy conversation would soon begin; for you see, Janie had been blind since birth and was constantly wanting something described to her.
“When we did weather today, Ryan said it was cloudy. Ms. Lisa, what are clouds like?”
I hesitated, for though I had described many things to Janie in the past, it was always hard for me to find a way to describe an object without using color.
“They are soft and fluffy, the way cotton balls feel.”
“hmmm............”
"Do you remember the way cotton balls feel?"
“Yeah, but they’re tiny.”
“That’s right Janie, cotton balls are tiny but clouds are huge like...... giant, super big cotton balls.”
She flashed her contagious smile and I couldn’t help but smile myself.
“I wish I could jump on them.”
She punctuated the word jump by moving her whole body and I reached for her with my mom/teacher reflex, the action that becomes second nature after saving hundreds of angels from crashing to the ground and thousands of glasses of milk from spilling on the table.
“GOTCHA”
“Oops, I almost fell.”
“I know but I gotcha.”
We sat there not talking for a moment. Janie holding my hand, fiddling with the ring on my finger.
“My mommy has a ring that my daddy gave her when they got married.”
“This is the same kind of ring. My husband gave me this when we got married. It’s called a wedding band.”
“Will I get married when I get big?”
“Oh honey. Of course, you will. You’re beautiful.”
I placed my hand under her chin, which was resting on her collarbone, raising it so I could gaze upon her beauty. Her blank eyes seemed to stare right through me. My hand caressed her face and there was a long pause as she thought about my words.
“Ms. Lisa, what do I look like?”
The question caught me off guard and I could feel a slight wave of apprehensive wash over me. What was I to tell her? The image I painted for her would be an image of herself that she would carry for a long time.
“Janie, you have the face of an angel. The sun shining in your red curls makes a halo around your head. You have a few freckles that God sprinkled across your nose.”
I ran my finger lightly across her nose.
“Your smile and joy bring heaven down to earth.” I put her hands on her face. “Can you feel all of this?”
She sat there for a moment feeling her face, trying to imprint this image in her mind.
“But what do my eyes look like?”
“They are a beautiful brown like a deer’s.......... Remember when we went to the petting zoo?”
“Yeah”
“They are soft and warm like he was.”
“Oh” She smiled and I breathed a sigh of relief because she seemed to like the description.
“Can I swing now?”
“Sure. Wanna run to the swings?”
I asked this because her mother had explained that Janie loved to run but would only do it with her. She had gone on further to explain that to blind children it is scary but fun much like riding a roller coaster. It is also a big test of trust.
“Okay” The apprehension could be heard in her voice.
“It’s okay. I gotcha.”
I could feel the trust begin to grow as she grabbed my hand and we ran for the swings.
