Seeing

Artwork by Claudia Dobrohotoff

She touched my face. More than touched it, she explored, slowly letting her fingers glide over every nook and cranny. It was her way of seeing me. Her face showed complete concentration, compiling an image of me in her head. I wondered about her picture of me. Did she really know what I looked like, just by touching my face?

From a very early age I was fascinated by blind people. I kept thinking about all the things they would never see. Which pictures did they form in their heads? How could they understand colours? How did they manage their daily lives?

When I was a teenager, I had the privilege to meet Berta. She was blind from birth.

I was most impressed by how fast she could read with her fingers, gliding along the lines of a Braille text. The library for the blind didn’t have enough titles for her; she had read every single one, putting a hold on each new book as soon as it came in, be it Braille or an audio book. This gave her a wide range of knowledge in different areas. I imagine how she would have embraced the new technologies that allow us now to listen to any published text!

I knew Berta as a knitter, but only when I started knitting more complicated patterns myself did I fully appreciate her skills. She produced the most intricate works of art, always using her fingers to make sure everything was the way she wanted it to be. On the rare occasion she discovered a mistake, she would not unpick, but stitch back row after row to fix the problem. I find it challenging to lose even a few loops when I make a mistake.

Berta worked on the switchboard of a big company. She collected awards for being efficient, accurate and friendly. I bet most of the callers had no idea they were talking to a blind person who had to work extra hard for her good results.

When I asked Berta what her picture of me was, she accurately described my face. She said my high cheekbones were my most defining feature. She had a clear picture in her mind.

Although Berta could not see with her eyes, she could see with her hands. But most importantly, she saw with her heart.