Throughout my life I have been granted many titles; mom, wife, daughter, registered nurse, and writer are just a few. These are the titles that are associated with my name. I could be described as outgoing, humorous, modest, and perhaps kind too. These would be some characteristics that people from a distance would use to describe me as a person in general. However, if they were to take a few steps closer and examine my life from a different angle, they would be quick to notice some additional attributes that I possess. As much as sometimes I would like to disregard it, the JIA that I was diagnosed with 40 years ago, is an inherent part of me too.

10 years ago, I suddenly lost much of my eyesight in my one remaining eye, from complications with Uveitis, associated with my JIA. This made my life feel no longer recognizable. However, as the chaos began to clear, once hidden positivity was revealed to me. Despite having gained the new title of ‘blind person’, I knew that at my core, I had not lost who I was. Instead, I grew from the knowledge I gained while learning to overcome the new challenges I faced. Through my journey, I have found a way to enjoy the beauty of life despite my difficulties, and using what I have learned, I hope to help others do the same.

While nursing was my first career passion, I have pivoted in a different direction now, to using my voice to add a little sparkle to the world. I’ve had the privilege of working with AMI audio to put together 2 podcast series. The first, The Blind Reality, is a twenty-episode podcast series exploring my vision loss journey from a very honest, storytelling approach. There, I’m joined by a key person from my life to share their perspectives at the end of each episode. On the, Raising Kindness with Becki Zerr, I co-host the show with my 13-year-old son to share our experiences helping at various community-based organizations. This ten-episode video podcast series is all about volunteering and giving back to our communities regardless of your personal challenge or age.

Since sharing my story, many opportunities for advocacy have arisen! Recently, I have been a part of a documentary series called Blind Trust: a guide dog’s journey, which explores the history, the heart and the hands-on work that goes into creating a successful guide dog team. I’ve also had the privilege of collaborating on various research projects led by Dr. Alan Rosenberg – a Cassie + Friends Society CREW grant recipient, aimed at better understanding the causes of JIA and expanding the knowledge base to those living with JIA or working in the field.

Often, a diagnosis is regarded strictly as a negative situation, but what I hope you’ve learned from my story, is that there are always positive treasures to be found from a diagnosis too.