Blind Luck

By Mark Shipley

A legally blind diabetic fighting ADHD, drugs, and alcoholism takes on a sighted world, learning how to overcome adversity while balancing the needs of raising a family, work, and dealing with a need to overcome the obstacles that prove to be ever challenging since the first loss of his eye functions. This is how he learned to survive and be successful.

This book is filled with laughs, tears, trials and errors, all while striving to move forward only with the help of family, good friends, and mostly knowledge and God--all of which he considers to be the building blocks of his very fast-paced life.

An inspiring true to life, nonfiction book about a different view of life from someone who can't see it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662470189

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Blind Luck

Mark Shipley

Copyright © 2022 Mark Shipley

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-7017-2 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-7018-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Blindness and Diabetes

Chapter 2

Blindness and Marriage

Chapter 3

Blindness and Drugs

Chapter 4

Blindness and Self-Inflicted Accidents

Chapter 5

Blindness and Finding Work

Chapter 6

Finding My Inspiration and Strength

About the Author

Introduction

Imagine being twenty-two years old, having a good job, having a driver's license with a nice car, being newly wed to a beautiful lady with three wonderful children.

Everything was perfect. Then one day, there was a loud pop in my eye, and everything started to turn red. This was the end of my life as I knew it. I have been a type 1 diabetic (dependent on insulin) since I was five and had been warned of what was going to happen if I did not take care of myself properly. Losing my sight was just the beginning of a long road of learning by trial and error.

This is a book about the true life struggles of a legally blind man trying to raise a family while fighting drug addiction, alcoholism, and ADHD, but I only knew one thing, and that was to fight for what I believed in.

Being dropped into a hole of desperation with what seems to be no hope can lead to amazing things. I prayed for strength as I learned to figure out just what it takes to be successful in a sight-driven world. This is no easy task by any means. Try doing it with your eyes closed.

I needed to learn to overcome the fear and break through the obstacles to teach others that it does not matter what your challenge is in life because if you put your mind to it, and you really want it, then there is nothing that the human spirit cannot overcome. You have to keep trying; even if you fail, get up and do it again until you get it right.

I hope that this book can help people understand that if you have the will, you do have the ability to achieve great things.

It does not matter what other people say to you. It matters what you say to yourself.

You can do it, and don't ever believe anybody who says you can't.

My motto has always been, If a blind guy can do it, then anybody can. There are others out in the world every day proving it. So get up, and be the one who gets it done.

Believe in yourself because sometimes there is no one else who will.

There is always someone there to back you up, even if it is only God. You can find the strength you're after if you just believe.

I have been on the bottom and worked my way to the top more than once. So join me as I share some of my experiences with you.

Remember, you are special too. So prove it, and be that person that you are meant to be.

Welcome to my life.

(2015)

Chapter 1

Blindness and Diabetes

I have been a diabetic since I was five years old. Luckily my parents were well-versed in this disease. Almost all of my grandparents, along with my sister who is two years older than me, are all diabetic. This involves a lot of blood sugar checking and insulin injecting. By the time I was fifteen, I did not care about my diabetes other than taking my shot twice a day. I was a very active teenager, and quite frankly, I just didn't think it mattered. I lived life fast and hard. I loved to fistfight and was very active in school and sports. I also loved cross-country roller-skating. This was long before Rollerblades.

If I was at home, it was to sleep, eat, or take my medicine. School for me was very easy. I was raised by my grandparents, and my dad was very _______ on me, learning all that I could. This I later realized was the cornerstone of my life. As I was growing up, my grandfather (Dad) also told me that to be the best, you had to train for it.

I had a plaque above my room that said, The world owes you a living, but you have to work hard to collect it. I think I really took that to heart because everything that I accomplished, I tried to be the best in it. No doubts in myself of what I was doing. Ever!

Diabetes has always been my greatest challenge. Even my parents didn't know how to handle me because I just would never stop. Back then the doctors just called it extra energy, but we now know it is called ADHD. My dad had a plan. He put me to work and taught me to use that energy to expand my mind. Now since we had a great big house and just a grand woodstove to keep it warm, Dad came up with a plan. No one understood until years later.

I started chopping wood at four years old, and by the time I was six, I had a paper route. I was chopping wood and going to school full-time. I loved it and would sleep four hours per night. I still do to this day. I got stronger and smarter and faster until at eight years old, my dad had to start working rotating shifts at Crown Zellebach. So I would order the log trucks, saw them up, and split the wood while playing sports, going to school, and raising one hundred rabbits for food; for when Dad was on strike, that was something that seemed to happen more than not.

One of the many things that I was taught at a young age was if you work hard and smart, you would not ever have to go hungry or be cold. Now to get something clear, I was adopted by my grandparents at a very young age along with my diabetic older sister. She was the quiet one, and I have always been the go-getter. I was reunited with my real father when I was nineteen years old, and we still stay in touch today.

My mom was asked to teach the country, and I have not seen her since I was __. Hope you ___, Dad, Mom. I also have a half sister—same mom, different dad. Hey, sis.

Evan though I had diabetes, I was never told that I could not do what I had my mind and heart set on. So in that, I cannot think of one thing that I failed at. I kept this attitude through school and pursued what I wanted without fear. My dad was a God-fearing man, but I can remember a time when he was not. That all changed in the 1980s. He had an out-of-body experience during a heart attack, which changed our lives from that day on.

The reason that I am sharing this with you is because my dad planted a seed that has helped me from that day forward.

My dad showed me that if you believe in God and yourself, all you have to do is pray for the strength and hit it head-on. So when I lost my sight due to diabetes, I feel that I was a lot less fearful than my family. Let me share with you how it went about. My wife and I were married in the spring of 1989. She had three small children from a previous marriage. I kid you not, it was love at first sight. I was seventeen and in perfect health when we first got together. I was twenty-two when we tied the knot. Just months after marriage, I felt a pop in my eye, and everything turned red. This was not a comfortable thing, not just seeing red, but feeling the pressure build as my eye filled with blood.

Now let me tell you folks: if you have diabetes, don't think it doesn't want to kill you. It may not be now or even a little later, but eventually, it will catch up to you. My job, I feel, is to write this book to not only show perseverance and hard work, along with a lot of bumps and bruises, but also keeping a