William M. Johnson

Books can change you and Snow Blind was just that for me. Snow Blind: Recovering After the Random Shooting by William M. Johnson was an incredible peek inside the life of a man who lost his vision and how he learned to live with a major life change.

Bill Johnson was just like any other working person in Atlanta. It's July, and he's out with his colleagues discussing upcoming plans. Then, tragedy strikes. A lone gunman shoots the three of them at random. Bill was the lucky one - he survived. The bullet went in one temple and out the other, only causing issues with his optic and olfactory nerves. His colleagues? They didn't make it.

Bill wakes up to learn of the new disability that will change his life forever. Despite the change, Bill is a fighter and wants to be able to live independently. One of his biggest goals is getting back to his job at the firm which seems all but impossible without vision. But he's determined, and nothing is going to stop him.

This challenge spurs Bill on. He goes through occupational therapy, learns how to use a walking stick to travel, he even gets a seeing-eye dog. This man isn't going to let one extraordinary life moment destroy his life. He just has to pivot. Oh, and he is going to learn how to ski while blind (hence the title).

I have to say, as a reader you fully expect a book like this to have a lot of depressing moments. Lucky for me, there wasn't. There are some moments when you feel bad or understand the pain and confusion of suddenly becoming blind. Bill's journey becomes a positive story of perseverance and taking life by the reigns. Just when you think Bill might give up, he doesn't. He finds a new perspective and does his best to be independent and his own person. This man is someone we should all look up to! He's incredible.

Reading about Bill's journey pulled at my heartstrings and made me feel pride. I was so impressed to read how most people with Bill's condition would take over a year to understand and begin to come to terms with losing their vision. And then there's Bill, who decided within an hour that life had changed and he was going to make the best of it. To top it off, learning about how you gain new skills once you lose your vision was also exceptionally interesting. When I've seen people walking by with their white canes, I always wondered how they learn. Obviously, you have trial and error, but to learn what happens in the schools and their assignments was so incredible.

Bill's journey to becoming a successful skier was also so fun to read. There are ups, there are downs, there are wins and some funny losses, but it all is written with such an uplifting point of view. Bill shows us that just because bad things happen it doesn't mean we have to let all the bad things happen to us. We can make the best of a bad situation. Bill moved forward and was so kind to share his inspirational story with us readers.

If you love non-fiction books and want to read a very uplifting and inspirational story, this book is for you. This is one of my new must-reads and I highly recommend it. With all of the negativity that goes around in the news and on social media, this book was a breath of fresh air that reminded me how good things can be (even in the toughest of times).

Five out of five stars. And, just for Bill and his pup, an extra two!… (mehr)