COLORADO

By Juliet Cody

It was not just the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the gorgeous large trees and evergreens, the clean fresh air, or the exciting storms that pleasantly surprised me in the evenings that made me fall in love with Colorado. Of course, all of this played a big role, but equally as beautiful were the challenges, the friendships and the many teaching and learning experiences that I lived through in the Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB).

There is no doubt that it was a lot of hard work yet working with Federationists, following the National Federation of the Blind philosophy, made the hard work worth it. In our program, counselors and students alike were able to obtain personal growth in the areas of independence, equality and love for one another. This is what made my summer one I will never forget.

When I was hired to work as a summer counselor at the CCB, I was honored, excited and prepared to do a good job. At this time in my life, I was in the middle of my spring semester. Therefore, I made arrangements for Marly (my guide dog) and me to fly to Colorado the day following my last final exam. And this is where our adventures began!

The plane landed in Denver at noon. It was a beautiful day. With all my final exams behind me, I was ready for new challenges that surely the CCB would offer me. It began with a welcoming party that made me feel at home. I met a lot of new people, and I was delighted to see old friends. I was pleased with the fact that my students and I would be living in a lovely park-like setting apartment complex with a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi and a gym. Many of the students had musical backgrounds. Immediately I knew that with my passion for music, this would only mean a lot of jam sessions. In fact, we jammed that first night, and we sang and danced the night away! We immediately made plans to start the CCB Band!

The very next day we went to work. My students and I organized a weekly menu and a grocery list. We made a phone call to the counselor and students that lived below us, and started exploring Colorado together. We took a bus and went to the market. There were about eight of us, and we all did our weekly grocery shopping. It was a lot of fun. Making friends and shopping with teenagers brought back memories of when I used to shop with my sisters in Santa Monica. Instead of feeling nostalgic, I started to feel like a teenager once again!

As the weeks passed, many wonderful experiences happened. From Monday to Friday, we would travel to the Center. We would start with the bus that stopped right in front of our apartments. This bus would take us to Mineral Station where we got on a train that would take us to downtown Littleton. At the Littleton Station there was a small coffeehouse called “Romancing the Beans”. This was the best little hangout place, because this is where we would reunite if we got lost on the train or the bus. From here it was just a short walk to the Center. After about a week, most everyone could get around independently, so my counseling heart attacks and nervous breakdowns subsided a bit. Yes! It was very rewarding to hear the tapping of the canes and the jingling of the guide dogs all over Colorado.

The family life in our apartment involved some hard work, some bonding and a lot of fun. The hard work took place when we all took turns with the household chores. During some of the cleaning and cooking sessions we experienced a lot of frustration and many challenges, but enough successes to keep us proud of ourselves. For example, one of my students, a fifteen-year-old girl who was scared to cook at first, made a pizza all by herself for our dinner. She was so proud and excited that we had to call her parents in Alabama before anyone could dig into the delicious pizza. That evening, as my student proudly served the pizza that she made, I felt a joy in my heart that is hard to explain, but wonderful to experience.

Now, let me tell you about the fun part! Since we scheduled our bedtime for ten o’clock, we would start getting ready for bed at nine o’clock, and would finally get to sleep by midnight---or so. Every night it was different, because every day it was either a new adventure or drama at the Center. Trust me, I am telling you there was too much to discuss, too much to plan and too many episodes that could make us laugh all night long. This is how it would begin. First we would just talk about something weird or funny that had happened. Then someone else would say something that would make all of us start giggling. Then I would say, “OK! That’s enough! Let’s go to sleep!” This must have been the cue for the roaring laughter to start. Because now we had tears rolling down our cheeks, we were screaming loudly and we were all gasping for air. Marly would just stand up and shake her head, and, of course, this only made it worse. Finally, we would make it to our beds, and settle down just long enough to catch our breath, wipe our tears and stop our stomachs from hurting.

As the program continued, so did the progress. Not just for the students, but also for myself. I taught in areas such as: travel, organizational skills, home management, computer skills and Braille. Each day was a teaching and learning experience for all of us. I polished up my existing skills and learned a few new ones. Because of our hard work, dedication, determination and accomplishments, there was also a tremendous amount of bonding. For me these bonding experiences have become everlasting friendships.

Many challenges helped to strengthen my confidence that summer in Colorado. There are some experiences I will treasure in my heart, and there are some I will recall vividly in my mind forever. One fond memory is when we all went white-water rafting. I can still remember the soothing sounds of the rushing waters from the Arkansas River, and all those hundreds of different birds singing so sweetly in the gigantic, shady trees. I truly was in a dreamy bliss, floating in a rubber boat with a river guide and five students, until I heard the loud crashing of the approaching white-water rapids! They were so loud! It was deafening! In a flash everything became frightening: the little rubber boat, the monstrous rocks, and the cavernous drops! Instantly my heart started beating like a jackhammer, I wanted to scream, “Turn back, PLEASE!” But I was so scared that the words were stuck in my throat! It was too late; I was going to fall into the center of the earth! So, for the next four hours I screamed, cried, prayed and screeched like a sparrow hawk. In all honesty, I did not think I was going to get out of this one alive. Yet, to my surprise, I did! As our raft slowed down and reached its destination, it all came back to me. I was in Colorado, white-water rafting in a little rubber boat and there were five other people with me. We were all laughing and having a great time building our confidence.

Rock climbing was next on the agenda. We were all going to Esther, Colorado, a beautiful little town about nine thousand feet up into the Colorado Rockies. It sounded great, except for the rock climbing, and I was not the only one that felt that way. There was no doubt that the night before, some students better known as “my girls”, felt the same way. They could not sleep the night before, thinking about the weekend activities that were happening the next day. I guess one could say they were excited, full of anticipation and petrified. Now, my job was to play it cool, calm and relaxed. However, this was a joke because I had never been rock climbing before, I was not just scared. I was worried not just for them, but also about myself. That night as we lay in our beds, awake and unusually quiet for once, the thought of having to put on a harness and climb those enormous rocks with just a couple of people doing what they called “belaying”, meant putting our lives into their hands. What kind of fun is that? In fact, it was scary, dangerous and stupid. I lay awake for hours wondering, what does rock climbing have to do with blindness?

The next day everyone got in the buses and off we went. The bus ride was cheerful, and it seemed to me that everyone had gotten over his or her fears with a good night’s sleep---except for me. I was still SCARED! When we finally got there, we had lunch. Then we got settled in the cutest cabins I have ever seen, and the mountains, trees, rocks and fresh air were stimulating. By now, I just wanted to get the rock climbing over with, so I could start having fun. After all, Marly was already having a blast, but she did not have to climb the biggest rock in the world, and she was used to being in a harness. On the other hand, for me it was annoying because I was sure that rock climbing was not for me. Well, I was convinced I could not do it until I finally did do it. Once again, I found myself on top of another one of Colorado’s monstrous rocks. It was then when I heard everyone screaming from below, and I could not believe what I heard. My students and the ranger were calling me, “SPIDERWOMAN!” As I listened, I realized how far down their voices were. Once again my heart started pounding. I thought I was nuts for doing this. I began to sweat, and again I could not get out of this situation! I was already up here, so now, HOW DO I GET DOWN? This time I was surely going to die! The only thing I could do now was to scream, and luckily the words did not get stuck in my throat this time. Instead, I heard myself screaming loudly, “HOW DO I GET DOWN FROM HERE!” Then I heard an angelic voice from the heavens saying, “ Hold the rope, and don’t worry if you fall. You will just dangle. Remember, you have a harness on.” Then the angel said, “ Keep your legs stiff, up against the rocks, and pretend like you are sitting in a lounge chair.” ” OK!” I thought, “ I will just sit in your invisible lounge chair and watch my life flash in front of me!” I did not get any more hysterical than I already was. Instead, I followed the instructions from the angel. Next, I heard, “Take little steps, Spiderwoman.” But this was no longer the angel’s voice, it was just the ranger. Finally, I was no longer in the heavens. I was safely on the ground, and everyone was cheering and telling me what a great job I had done. I felt proud. And strong! The smile on my face proclaimed to the world and myself that I could do anything I wanted to do, I just happened to be blind. It was then when I understood what rock climbing and white-water rafting and blindness had to do with one another.

At the Colorado Center for the Blind, we believe: one can navigate any river, one can scale any mountain peak and defeat any obstacle in one’s way. The only things we need are self-confidence, courage, trust in others, and love of life.