Remembering Top Dog-Charleston.

I'm pictured here with attendees of Top Dog-Charleston, 2019 during Opening Ceremonies. Since the founding of Top Dog Workshops in 2006, it has been my honored to serve as a musician and emcee for Top Dog events in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. I also accepted many of the event planning and guest registration responsibilities for the 2010, 2015 and 2019 events held here in Charleston, SC.

Top Dog-Charleston, 2019--a weekend packed with educational presentations, fabulous food, fellowship and fantastic "furries"--took place January 18-20. It was a tremendous success! We hosted over 150 human guests, over 90 guide dogs (plus some future and retired guides) and eleven of the twelve nationally-accredited guide dog schools.

Our Top Dog tributes to God and country have always been very special to me. This year, everyone attending our Opening Ceremonies was given a personal-sized American flag to hold with pride as we recited the Pledge of Allegiance together.

Throughout the weekend, I was blessed to work with lots of wonderful folks, including two of my colleagues in ministry. Presbyterian "Pastor Deb" Trevino (pictured above) flew in from Delaware with her husband Dave and her guide dog, Suzie. United Methodist Pastor Phil Glick (pictured below) and his wife, Connie came from my home state of Illinois, by way of Orlando Florida where they have been volunteering with Wycliffe Associates. Thanks to these two ministers and their spouses, all of our guests were given the opportunity to experience God's loving Light firsthand! Our opening invocation, "The Blessing of the Guides" and our ecumenical Sunday morning church service were truly unforgettable!

The effects of Top Dog-Charleston are still being felt nationwide within the blindness community. As a direct result of this event, at least three residents of our Tricounty area (and many more from across the country) have received life-enriching and empowering services offered exclusively by some of our Top Dog associates from Ohio, Michigan and Florida. At least 3 schools got brand new applicants for guide dogs.  One of our local residents has even attended the new Orientation & Mobility course offered by Pilot Dogs in Ohio and is absolutely elated that he can now independently navigate his subdivision using his long, white cane. On a more personal note, my BFF Audrey's guide dog Jessie was able to see his puppy raisers (foster parents) who traveled all the way from Texas to see him for the first time in over nine years!

As a proud, lifelong cane user who happens to love dogs, I want to take this opportunity to thank the national organization Guide Dog Users, Inc., and especially the state affiliates of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, for making me feel so welcome and appreciated at Top Dog events specifically and among the community of guide dog users in general. Once you've become part of the Top Dog family, you're sure to have lots of friends, "fur-ever!"

Stay tuned for more posts like this one. Until next time, God bless you and keep His Song in your heart!

© 2019 by Laurel Jean Walden

The Gift of Music.

Here I am at the beautiful Steinway in the chapel of The Village At Summerville, my first stop to share the sounds of the 2018 Holiday season. It was several years ago, during an engagement in this same chapel, when I first got to know this instrument.

I had just arrived with my own digital gigging piano and sound system. As I prepared to unload my gear for setup and a sound check, a gracious southern lady introduced herself to me and said, "Oh, I do hope you're going to play my Steinway!" Apparently, she had donated the instrument to the chapel when she first moved to The Village. She was very proud of her piano, and rightly so!

Never missing an opportunity to enjoy a well-maintained Steinway, I sat down at the piano for a few minutes and was absolutely delighted to oblige my new friend. It is always a joy for me to deliver "The Message in Music" on this amazing instrument, and to experience the warm welcome of everyone in attendance of my presentations. My thanks to the residents and staff of The Village At Summerville for their ongoing, heartfelt prayers and support on behalf of my music and ministry!

Giving Thanks.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for the open minds and hearts of sighted tour guides throughout the Lowcountry area.  Here, my BFF Audrey Gunter (President of Dixie Land Guide Dog Users), her guide dog Jessie and I are pictured in front of Fort Sumter Tours with Chief Interpreter Paula Ogden-Muse. We were blessed to spend a crisp, November morning with interpreters from Fort Sumter and Fort Moultirie, speaking and answering questions on the subjects of Sensitivity and Awareness relating to the blindness community.

This meeting was just one of many opportunities presented to my colleagues and me in our preparations for Top Dog-Charleston, 2019. We look forward to the January arrival of our 150-plus human guests. The majority of our workshop attendees are blind and will be traveling independently with their guide dogs or long, white canes. People are planning to come early and stay late in order to enjoy the myriad of tourist attractions in and around the "Holy City" of Charleston. Thanks to the genuine enthusiasm and support of folks like Paula, Our guests can be assured of a truly positive experience as they explore this beautiful city!

White Cane Day, My Personal Perspective

Clear skies and bright sunlight peeked through a welcome canopy of shade trees--live oak and pine, willow and bamboo, dogwood and pecan--as the road curved ahead. It was a beautiful, autumn day here in Charleston,South Carolina, perfect for a walk down the quiet, little streets of my neighborhood.

"Hey, Miss Sylvia," I called. A retired nurse who watches out for everyone, Sylvia is a true matriarch. My Lab Sonny and I pass by her house every day on our walks, and I've grown accustomed to listening for her to be out on her front porch. A distinctive squeak in one of the wheels on her car alerts me whenever she is driving down the street, and I wave at her as she calls to me or honks her horn in greeting.

"Hey, baby," came Sylvia's reply. "how you doin'?"

"All right. How about you?"

"Oh, I'm blessed. My knees is givin' me pain, but I've got to keep goin'." Miss Sylvia's voice always lilts with the authentic Gullah sound of the Lowcountry.

While  my neighbor and I chatted, I gave my rambunctious yellow Lab (who is soooooo not a guide dog) the command to "sit," keeping him occupied with kibble from my pocket. Sylvia and I wished each other a good day. Then having an afterthought, Miss Sylvia called to me again, "Hey, Laurie!" (Even eight-hundred-plus miles from home, I'll never get away from that darned family nickname, "Laurie.")

"Yes, Miss Sylvia?"

"Do you know if the garbage man came yet?"

"Well, I haven't heard him, but if you'll wait a minute, I can tell you." I went on to explain my technique of checking the garbage cans by tapping them with my long, white cane to avoid touching them. If the garbage cans consistently  echo with a hollow sound, I know that they are empty, that the garbage truck has come. A couple of thumps on a couple of nearby cans provided the answer. "No, ma'am! He has not been by here yet!"

"Oh, good! I can get my garbage out! Thank you, baby! You have a blessed one now!"

Since 1964, October 15 has been observed in the United States as White Cane Safety Day. In 2016, President Barak Obama proclaimed October 15 as "Blind Americans Equality Day," encouraging all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs." The entire month of October is often recognized as "Blindness Awareness Month," "Eye Care Awareness Month" and National Disability Employment Awareness Month. On many occasions, I join ranks with others to raise awareness on behalf of the blindness community. This particular day however, my heart was filled with a sense of dignity, contentment and exhilaration that simply could not be matched by any public display of recognition. Yes, on that beautiful, autumn day, my sighted neighbor looked beyond my physical blindness and saw my ability to help her. In fact, I daresay that Miss Sylvia has become so used to my presence in our neighborhood, she didn't even stop to consider my blindness at all.

I could write volumes about my journey through life as an avid cane user: my choice not to use a guide dog; my adopted pet dog with special needs who lopes along beside me every day as I navigate our walks with my cane, the way that I see my extensive, nationwide cane travel experience as something between a dance and a sport, the pride that I feel to be an independent cane traveler and my gratitude to God for His gift of Faith which has allowed me to achieve such personal independence. Today--every day--I celebrate my life as an independent woman who happens to be blind.

"Jesus replied, ""'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)

Today, I honor my walk with God and my long, white cane by just being real, being a neighbor, loving my neighbor and giving thanks for my neighbors--near and far, blind and sighted--who see me as the unique, whole person that God created me to be.

Thank God, and thank you, for your ongoing prayers and support. A special thanks also goes to Katie, the Aira agent on the other end of the phone, who assisted me long distance in taking the above picture. Stay tuned for more posts like this one. Until next time, God bless you; and, keep His Song in your heart.

© 2018 by Laurel Jean Walden