Pollyannarchist

I keep thinking about you, and this. I know how being poor can wreak havoc with you emotionally. Despair, depression - I remember. At 30 I was probably in a similar situation as yours. Well, not the manual labor, and I live(d) in the midwest. But I worked a minimum wage job, and another part-time job, and had two little kids. I thought the cycle of struggling would never end. It was a journey, for sure, but now at almost twice that age, things are so much better than they've ever been as an adult.

Do you have anyone to talk to? Have you seen a doctor about your mental/emotional health? Why do you feel that you have no other path but a decent downward? I know with all my heart that there are ways out for you.

First of all, I am going to think of all you've gone through when I get my next eye injection in a couple weeks. (Wet macular degeneration - I'm an oldster.) It's so great that you've gotten vision back. I'm curious about what kind of assistive technology you used when you were blind for about a year, and if it effected you emotionally during that time. And if that's too personal of a question, just ignore that.

Oh, I hope that you can avoid macular degeneration too. You've had enough already. Thanks for wishing me luck, it's much appreciated. Ironically, I work as a graphic and web designer, and today I had a meeting with someone from our Visually Impaired program. (I work for an educational service agency.) Our conversation included discussion of adding visually impaired resources to our website, and also about our local service organization for the blind. I didn't realize there was so much help out there for both work training and independent living. As positive as it was, I started feeling a bit depressed at the thought of needing such help, hence my question to you. I can certainly understand not wanting to avail yourself of assistive tech devices - denial is such an easier place to live sometimes.

Thanks so much for your willingness to share about these challenges you've faced so openly. May your recovery be swift and remarkable.