A dream to see again: Blind mom of 9 cooks, bakes and sews

Noel Thompson, Sunday Gleaner Writer

SHE HAS been visually impaired for more than two decades, but Pauline Reckord has managed to raise her children and grandchildren almost single-handedly while still doing her domestic chores.

Doctors say Reckord, who resides in the quiet community of Police Hill, which lies between Cousins Cove and Green Island in Hanover, is unlikely to ever see again, and this bothers her.

"I consider over it a lot. I try not to let it bother me, but it does.I can't see at all. I've been blind for 27 years now, after I was diagnosed with cataract and glaucoma in both eyes," she said.

Prior to the diagnosis, she tried to balance a busy life as wife and mother and working to put the food on the table. She had no idea that something was going terribly wrong with her sight.

Many sacrifices

As with many mothers, Reckord sacrificed and deprived herself of many of life's luxuries to ensure her children's welfare was addressed. "You know when you have the kids and you are worrying over them, you are the breadwinner, and at the same time, you have to spend time with your children. I never even realised the extent to which I was losing my sight."

She recalls that fateful morning when she woke up and realised that her vision had gone. She immediately visited her doctor, who confirmed her worst fears. She was 40 years old then.

"She told me, 'Eh, your vision is gone'." Overwhelmed with confusion, Reckord asked: "No hopes, doctor?"

She wanted to be told otherwise as a means of comforting herself, but the doctor had to be forthright.

"She told me that the artery at the back of my eye had been blocked off, so I wouldn't see again."

But the most challenging times of her life were yet to be revealed. She said shortly after the diagnosis, her husband left the matrimonial home, leaving her to raise all the children on her own, without any support coming from him.

"He deserted me. I had to babysit other people's babies and my young children and wash people's clothes for a living," she said.

Asked how it could be possible for a blind person to effectively carry out such chores, she responded: "You see, I was very active before, so my sight was in my mind. But these days, I'm feeling lots of pain because I had to spend long hours in the river water, sometimes washing for up to four persons - one of whom would come with barrels of clothes.

"I had no other choice of sending my children to school. Now I have arthritis all over my body, but I just take it to God in prayer."

Husband died

One of Reckord's daughters, Grace-Ann, told The Sunday Gleaner her father died in 1997, about 10 years after he had left the family home.

"He became ill and he came back asking me to take him back and I said 'No!' I was too hurt," Reckord recalls.

Hers is truly a case of seeing is believing, for despite her blind state, she cooks, bakes, washes, and sews. She even helped to raise her grandson - Chadron Crooks - who, now age 15, still clings to her side. Although Chadron literally lives with his mother next door and has a spare bedroom at Reckord's house, he frequently still sleeps by her side, just as he did as a toddler.

"I grew up with her and I'm still very attached to her," Chadron said of his grandmother who has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

These days she sells knick-knacks to children in her neighbourhood to earn some extra cash.

A devoted Christian, she said she raised her children in a godly manner. She frequently attends church these days and dresses herself - hat, dress, shoes, and handbag to match.

Grace-Ann said Cuban eye specialists confirmed the nerves at the back of her mother's eyes are dead.

Still, Reckord has one dream: to see again.

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