Have you ever noticed that telephone
keypads have a raised dot on the number five? Gene McKenzie had never noticed
either, until he learned it’s there to help the visually impaired dial a number
accurately.
Gene has had to learn many things since
losing his sight to Macular Degeneration. His wife Alice told me about a
helpful CNIB club that used to operate in Portage. “They’d talk about how they
managed in their kitchen, for example. About ten of us got together for
friendship and encouragement, but the club has dissolved. We wish someone
younger than us would pick up the leadership and get that going again.”
Experiencing life through someone else’s eyes,
as Gene sometimes does through Alice’s, gives one new perspective. “We tend to
only notice the things we naturally notice,” Gene says. “But get ten different
people to study the same picture and they’ll describe it ten different ways.”
Three of Gene’s six siblings in the U.S.
also have Macular Degeneration, and the McKenzies feel grateful for our medical
system and for the CNIB, which is supported by the United Way.
“Our kids have been tremendously
supportive as well,” Alice says.
 |
| Gene & Alice with granddaughter Heidi |
I can vouch for this. Their granddaughter
Heidi happily sent me more photos than I could use for this series. In a
message I received from their daughter Val, she said, “Dad has risen to the
challenge and faced it with grace, courage and humor.”
With a chuckle, Gene tells me why he has
stopped going shopping with Alice. “It’s too easy to lose her at the end of an
aisle if I don’t know which way she turned!”
When asked whether he ever feels unsafe, Alice
tells me a story about when they needed to take a cab to a different gate at
the Vancouver airport. With no time to explain, Alice left Gene’s side to run
and catch a cab. When she looked back, she saw terror on Gene’s face.
Gene feels encouraged when friends call to
invite him for lunch or coffee. When they offer a ride to an event without his
having to ask, he loves it. “It’s hard to ask,” he says. “One of the great
lessons of this has been that in time of need, don’t push your friends away.
Draw them to you. Often when a person goes through a hard time, they draw away
from friends. That would be the wrong thing to do.”
So, what did I learn from my conversation
with the McKenzies? The biggest is that attitude is everything. Gene may not
realize it, but one of the reasons his friends stick around is because he
remains his cheerful self and continues to take interest in their lives. While
he’s happy to talk about his situation when asked, he doesn’t dwell on his loss
or seek pity. He keeps learning and growing rather than allowing his world to
close in and insisting others live there with him.
We can all learn much from Gene. Losses in
this life are inevitable and usually unavoidable. Self-pity is always optional.
Faith is optional, too, but Gene’s remains intact. He is fully confident that
when his days on this earth are completed, his sight and so much more will be
restored.
I asked him what he most looks forward to
seeing when that day comes. Without hesitation, his heartfelt answer was
exactly what I expected: “I want to gaze into the face of Jesus.”
I’m pretty sure Jesus will be happy to see
your face too, Gene.
In the words of John Eldredge, “The beauty
of the lives of God’s true friends is the sweetest and most winsome argument
for Jesus there could ever be.”
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