The Vow: The True Events That Inspired the Movie

Posted on May 16, 2018May 16, 2018 by Dana

I’ve been out of town for the past week to celebrate my mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day with my family, so I didn’t have time to get a brand-new profile post put together. But rest assured, there will be one next week! A few weeks ago, I chatted with my friend Staci Grosser about what it’s like to parent a child with autism, and I’m excited about the post(s) that will come out of that conversation.

Anyway, for this week, I thought I’d talk about one of the other stories I’ve written in the past about people who live well and serve others. Well, actually, it’s a book. In a past life, I helped people write their stories, memoirs, biographies, or whatever you want to call them. I want to highlight one of those here, because the story is inspirational. Continue reading “The Vow: The True Events That Inspired the Movie” →

Jeanette Hanscome: A Suddenly Single Mom

Posted on March 28, 2018May 30, 2018 by Dana

Note: This is part two of a two-part post about Jeanette Hanscome. Click here to read part one about her early life, writing career, and how she lives a full life with a visual impairment.

Jeanette Hanscome was in a hotel room on vacation when she received the email from her husband. Subject line: “Moving.”

After 22 years of marriage, the two had been separated for a few months. Jeanette had been hoping they would be able to work through their issues, reconcile, and life would go back to normal. But it was not to be. Her husband was moving to a town four hours away from their home in Reno, and he wanted a divorce. She sat in that hotel room and thought, “Life is never going to be the same.”

She said to herself, “I’m going to be a single mom. I’m going to be divorced. And I can’t drive. How am I going to do this?” She saw the possibility of losing absolutely everything, including her writing career.

Jeanette had the perfect job for someone who is unable to drive due to vision limitations: freelance writing and editing from home. But now she might need to find a regular job in order to make enough money as a single mom. She had no idea what would be in store for her and her sons. How would she manage it? It didn’t take long to find out.

Continue reading “Jeanette Hanscome: A Suddenly Single Mom” →

Jeanette Hanscome: Unlimited by Low Vision

Posted on March 21, 2018April 24, 2018 by Dana

Note: This is part one of a two-part post about Jeanette Hanscome. Click here to read part two about Jeanette’s journey through divorce and single parenthood.

Jeanette Hanscome was born with a vision impairment called achromatopsia, which causes complete color blindness, low vision, and extreme sensitivity to light. In her words, “We have what is called day blindness. If I go outside during the sunlight hours without my sunglasses on, everything is like a white sheet.”

You would think such symptoms would lead to an early diagnosis, right? Wrong. Jeanette wasn’t diagnosed until she was eight years old.

Up until then, her parents, teachers, and doctors were stumped. They knew she couldn’t see well, her eyes shook, and she wasn’t learning her colors. But it’s such a rare disorder (1 in 33,000 people) that it took a long time for anyone to connect the dots.

Jeanette was the first person in her school with a visual impairment, and they weren’t equipped to deal with it.

Continue reading “Jeanette Hanscome: Unlimited by Low Vision” →