Teaching my Daughter to Cook

So, I tried to teach my daughter to cook a long time ago and she is able to make some things but now that she has decided to go on a mission next year I think its time to make sure she knows how to really cook for herself.

Now, you think there is no problem with that, she is 19 years old, however she has a vision issue. She has an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. That means she is slowly losing her sight.

She has always had night vision issues, that's how we knew she needed glasses in the first place. But we didn't know how bad it was or how bad it was going to get. What happens is, she loses her night vision,then she starts to have tunnel vision which narrows the path of what she can see. If she looks down she runs into things but if she looks up then she trips over stuff. It has been trying for her.

She will then lose her color vision and eventually her sight, totally, that's how the disease progresses. But we always have hope that some cure can be found to help her later. But for now we are preparing for the worst. She is a little scared sometimes but she has lived this way all her life and really doesn't know any other way and because it's gradual it should be too hard to deal with.

I remember when she was 2 years old getting her first pair of glasses. She tried on a pair for sizing and immediately took them off ,I just knew we were going to have issues with glasses. But when she put them on again with the correct lenses she just looked around at everything in total amazement, I cried. It was the first time my little girl was seeing the world more clearly. She was around 12 years old when she was diagnosed with RP. At least now we know what we are dealing with.

She just started going to the Light House for the Blind and they have been very helpful with her. She now has a white cane so she can look ahead and not trip over stuff, like the dog who lies in the middle of the kitchen floor. She has been learning a lot about transportation and electronics. She has also been learning about self defense, that makes me happy. She is learning that life goes on no matter what, you just have to find your way.

So teaching her to cook is interesting but she does amazing well. She has taught me a lot about living with a disability, its only a disability if you let it be. We can still live our lives but work a little harder to get over the things that challenge us.  We all have challenges and this is one of her's, one of mine is not let her disability make me sad.