Feeling the Words
At age fifteen, Louis Braille created the world’s
first universal system for reading and writing for
those who are either blind or visually impaired. He
blinded himself in one of his eyes at age three with
a stitching awl. He lost sight in both eyes after
developing a condition called sympathetic ophthalmia,
which is an inflammation of both eyes because there
was significant trauma to one of them. This system
is now named after him and is used universally.
I was able to have the entire story translated into
Braille. A three-page document created six double-
sided pages of braille. Receiving the package with
the document translated into braille was exciting.
Although I didn’t know what part of the story I was
reading this was a significant part of this process
where I was able to feel a genuine connection to my
family heritage.
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