Today, becoming blind can be simply a transition from one way of living to a new rich, productive and imaginative existence.

      In 1996, two eye specialists confirmed a feared fact: I had become legally blind, and the disease, known as macular degeneration, was incurable. Quickly came one of the major consequences: the lose of automobile driving privileges. It was not the loss of the privileges that hurt; rather, the pain was in the loss of the independence and freedom that had been part and parcel of automobile ownership. Freedom is something we all tend to take for granted throughout our lives.

      At that time, I stood at one of those major forks in life's pathway:

      (1) To the left was the path of ease, of least resistance. Just go there, and sit. Join the "woe is me" crowd, accomplish nothing, become incarcerated in self pity while waiting for endless days to close. That was the easy path, and having stood there, I can understand why so many choose it.

      (2) The other path, to the right, was not a path of ease. It bristled with the need for substantial self determination. That path would lead to exciting new adventures, new ways to be creative and productive, new ways for great entertainment, and new ways to live independently: all thanks to the availability of today's technology.

      Many people with vision impairment can see sufficiently to read with ample light and magnification. One way involves the use of powerful reading lamps and hand held magnifiers. This is cumbersome, uncomfortable, and very tiring. New technology brings in video readers and computers. It was ultra exciting to learn, early in my new walk, that with a computer I can read, write, and even take care of my personal finances, including writing checks. I could even prepare my own federal income tax return and then file it; all things that blind people cannot ordinarily accomplish easily. But that was only the tip of the computer iceberg. Mountain ranges of exciting possibilities suddenly emerged.

      There was, for example, the Internet, which brought a whole new wide-world of information. Suddenly, there was easy access to the world's largest library, larger than all libraries combined, access to the most gigantic and diverse shopping malls imaginable, access to many books and music, including the Bible, access to the very offices of government, to learning centers, and much, much more. All available 24/7 to my blinded eyes, right in the comfort and security of my own home, without the need of an automobile.

      I quickly learned that shopping on the Internet was far more productive than dragging from store to store, parking lot to parking lot, through one traffic mess to another. Moreover, there were greater amounts of product information on the Internet than ordinarily found in typical retail outlets.

      One of my earliest projects on the computer/Internet circuit was to become an amateur genealogist, tracing my family roots back to the year 1350 in Germany (that ended a life long hand-me-down-myth that our family originated in Wales!) It required a few exciting and fun filled years to complete the task. Finally, I published a 125 page family history book, all created by computer, and I opened a family history web site. Let me tell you, blind people are not supposed to do these things, right? No, wrong. This is the 21st Century.

      On the Internet, I meet and communicate with many wonderful people. At a site called

      I could go on and on, but the point to be made here is that the computer will help any vision impaired or blind person to live a rich and exciting life, rather than living a life of shallow emptiness, like so many vision impaired do. You can live a life that is so interesting that your days will be so full and pass so quickly that you will want to say for all to hear, "I am too busy to feel sorry for myself."

      I want to encourage anyone who has a vision impairment or blindness, to discover the computer's magical powers and the rich resources of the Internet. If you need help, contact your local organizations for the vision impaired, many of which offer computer introductory courses. In many areas, the public school system offers evening courses on computers. If you have access to the Internet, just go to any search engine and punch up, for example, "macular-degeneration," or "vision-impaired," and you will have instant access to tens of thousands of web sites. If all else fails, email me at jclawges@bellsouth.net.

      Start doing something right now. It's the 21st century. Start living it, being a part of it, and, most important, seeing it!