Get to know Maria Reis!
She’s a longtime Milton resident who enjoys living every single day that she has on this planet. She’s also blind.
Living in a rather rural area of the town, Reis says getting around can get tricky. Cabs have a hard time making their way onto her street if it’s too dark. She’d like to see that get changed, but adds that the Town of Milton has been increasingly accommodating with her as her condition developed.
She wasn’t always legally blind, though her eyesight was never quite perfect. She was born with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Reis explains it:
She misses being able to see. There are some aspects that are missed more than others, particularly seeing other people’s faces. People are forever young in the mind of someone who has lost their sight. A moment she recalled was when she went to an event where the 1960’s pop group Herman’s Hermits were in attendance. She spoke with them and mentioned how handsome she thought the band members were. The group laughed and said they were flattered to be called handsome nowadays at their age.
“People are forever young in the mind of someone who has lost their sight.”
She’s waiting to be able to own a self-driving car when they become available. Driving is one thing that Reis misses the most about being able to see. In her current state, she’s very reliant on others to get around. She laughs and says that every MP and MPP that she speaks with will always hear about how she needs to be at the front of the line for self-driving cars licenses like the ones from the movie iRobot.
It’s strange to think about, but there are types of dogs that she’s never seen before. As a blind person, she’s very close with her dog, Rosebud. She says that she recently met someone with a Morkie dog breed. She was fascinated as she had never seen one before, and had trouble thinking of what it could have looked like.
Let’s dive into Rosebud. The 12-year-old service dog is her best friend and has been with her through thick and thin. Reis explains their relationship:
It was the garbage man. Even guide dogs are in the forever fight against those dastardly garbage men.
There are times where Reis has to educate people. Whether it’s reminding people to leave voicemails because she can’t see the ‘Missed Call’ headline on her cell phone or telling people that she in fact does not know what the person who helped her in the store looks like. It seems that people just forget that sight is used for so many little things in life.
Despite those moments, she enjoys every day that she experiences. She recalled a recent moment where she went to Toronto on a trip. The big highlight of the day: Rosebud went on her first escalator. It’s the little things.
She wants residents to know that every single person is unique. One personality is not like any other, and she’s always fascinated to learn from people and how they think. Every person has a unique viewpoint with varying skills and different experiences. She emphasizes this to say that, while she doesn’t know braille, another blind person might. While she’s able to get around Milton because she remembers the streets well enough, another blind person might need help. Everyone has a unique story to tell and we just need to listen, in one way or another.
If you’d like us to feature a Milton resident, send us an email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. We’d be happy to speak with that person and hear their story. As Maria says, we just need to listen.
