Long Time, No See

by Finke, Beth

• ISBN13: 9780252028274
• ISBN10: 0252028279
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

Long Time, No See is certainly an inspiring story, but Beth Finke does not aim to inspire. Eschewing reassuring platitudes and sensational pleas for sympathy, she charts her struggles with juvenile diabetes, blindness, and a host of other hardships, sharing her feelings of despair and frustration as well as her hard-won triumphs. Rejecting the label "courageous," she prefers to describe herself using the phrase her mother invoked in times of difficulty: "She did what she had to do." With unflinching candor and acerbic wit, Finke chronicles the progress of the juvenile diabetes that left her blind at the age of twenty-six as well as the seemingly endless spiral of adversity that followed. First she was forced out of her professional job. Then she bore a multiply handicapped son. But she kept moving forward, confronting marital and financial problems and persevering through a rocky training period with a seeing-eye dog.Finke's life story and her commanding knowledge of her situation give readers a clear understanding of diabetes, blindness, and the issues faced by parents of children with significant disabilities. Because she has taken care to include accurate medical information as well as personal memoir, Long Time, No See serves as an excellent resource for others in similar situations and for professionals who deal with disabled adults or children.

Author Biography

Beth Finke is a freelance writer and part-time nude model for art classes in Urbana, Illinois. Her articles have been published in Writer Magazine, the Anchorage Press, The Bark, and Dog Fancy, and she appears as a commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition."

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Lights Go Out	1	(21)
My Two Companions	21	(23)
Braille Jail	44	(15)
Blind Christmas	59	(14)
Gus	73	(27)
Another Sort of Trouble	100	(18)
Pandora	118	(13)
Adventures with Gus	131	(22)
How I Do It	153	(24)
Looking for Work	177	(16)
Epilogue	193	(10)
Acknowledgments	203