(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch)
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It is often said that a wise person walks a mile in another’s shoes. I Feel Your Stare by Cheryl Gillespie takes us on just such a journey. Born with JRA, (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis), Ms. Gillespie succumbed to what most with this affliction end up experiencing – total vision loss.
Separated from her family and sent to a school for the blind at an early age, Gillespie takes us through the range of emotions anyone would feel under similar circumstances: fear, loneliness, and an insatiable desire to just be home with her family and go to a regular school.
Eventually, through determination and hard work, she breaks from the bonds of the specialized school and returns home. Here again, she excels in the ‘sighted world,’ despite all of the obstacles put in her path, both real and metaphorically.
I Feel Your Stare is an intimate look at pain, suffering, but also of overcoming obstacles and ultimately emerging victoriously. To be sure, Gillespie is brutally honest about her life, and she pulls no punches. There also is no ‘fairy-tale’ ending to the book or to her life. But it is an inspiring look at what can be done when a person believes in themselves and refuses to give up – or to give in, to society’s ignorance and misplaced bias.
