Cynthia, 60, lost her sight at the age of 55 due to Macular Degeneration, a condition that gradually degrades one’s central vision. Cynthia was determined to live as fully as possible and devoted 6 months to learning how to travel with a walking cane and adapt her daily life to her new condition with the help of trained life skill instructors, also blind. 

Cynthia continues to garden and spend time outdoors as she did before losing her sight. She admits that her condition has caused her to reconsider how she enjoys these activities and that she’s proud of finding systems that work for her new lifestyle: “I love to garden. I love to get my hands in the dirt. I mark the different plants in my garden with chopsticks and different lengths of string. I can go out and pick all my produce and cook it myself. I love that none of our fresh food has chemicals.” 

She says, “I’m just like you. I just can’t see. I can do everything I always did, except drive and catch baseballs.”

When asked if she’s comfortable walking around new places alone Cynthia laughingly admitted, “When I go somewhere new I walk towards any voices I hear. I just stand around listening to people to try and figure out where I should go. Lots of people assume someone blind is also deaf, so I get to be a fly on the wall! Isn’t that terrible?” 

Cynthia lives in Hurricane, Utah, with her husband. She enjoys spending time with her adult children and grandchildren.