"I see," said the blind woman!

To me, writing is therapy. If my blog were to get hacked, there would be a ton of entries that could be read that have never made it to the "published" stage...sometimes, because I can't finish it, other times because I might get sued if I publicly share my thoughts.


My grandmother, "Hi", as we called her (umm, that was my brother's fault), seemingly chose to do much of the same. While my writing is random, short stories of stupid stuff that happens to me, hers was of life, and many times death, through the eyes of a woman who couldn't see. Although, when my brother or I would explain something to her, she would sometimes say, "'I see,' said the blind woman."


As a child, Hi suffered from an illness that damaged her optical nerves and caused temporary blindness for about 6 weeks. She was home schooled during that time, but was able to return to the classroom once she regained her vision.

Hi went to Austin Peay and became a school teacher until she came to Nolensville one day, spotted my grandfather and decided he was going to be her husband. Yup, that's right, she saw him pumping gas at the Gulf station, looked at her cousin and said, "There's my husband." They married 10 weeks later.


My grandfather was a farmer (see my earlier post, entitled Overalls), so once my mom was born, Hi stayed home and took care of her new baby and the housework. Once my uncle was born 7 years later, dynamics at the Scales household changed. My grandmother, 32 years old, woke up in the recovery room completely blind...her sight never to return. A mother who suddenly couldn't see with a newborn would take time for adjustment. My mother was 7 and became my grandmother's eyes.


Hi was one of the smartest women I have ever known. When I had a geometry problem that I couldn't work, which was about every geometry problem, my grandmother could walk me through the answer. She kept up with politics, loved Vanderbilt basketball and loved to talk on the phone. She wrote poem after poem, some about her grandchildren that she loved dearly, some about life in general, but many about death. She remembered most EVERY poem that she had ever written and would recite them from time to time. When I was old enough to realize what she was saying, I couldn't understand why she would write about sadness. Now, I understand it...Hi used writing as therapy, too!

Still, until just a few months ago, it didn't really click with me why death seemed to be a common theme in much of her writing. I realize now that she could SEE so much more than I could ever imagine. She wasn't just writing about death...she was writing about HEAVEN! I remember waking my girls early in the morning on August 3, 2007 to tell them that Hi had gone to live with Jesus. My youngest, who was only 4 at the time, looked me in the eyes with a glimmer in her own and said, "Mommy, Hi can see!" Both of my girls were so sensitive to Hi's needs and obviously learned early on that Heaven is a place without sorrow or sickness.

I read Hi's poems with a different perspective these days. I read them with a longing for an eternal home where I will no longer have to deal with the trials of this world. Here's one of the poems I heard her recite most frequently:

What Lies Beyond

What lies beyond the sunrise
At the break of each new day?
Maybe another heartache
As I have to go my way.

What lies beyond noon's high sun
As it travels its blue path?
It might just cast a shadow
To dull the edge of God's wrath.

What lies beyond the sunset
As night come crawling in?
It hides many sorrows a
And covers many sins.

What lies beyond death's black veil
That saddens many souls?
There, many get just reward
And others attain their goals.

-Kathleen C. Scales 1923-2007

Hi was a smart, brave woman. She could see what lies beyond this world so much more clearly than most people I know. I think I, personally, can now use her phrase, '"I see,' said the blind woman."

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4