By Betty
My husband, Wesley Britton, has RP and is the most impressive man that
I know. Wesley's life has never been easy. I have known him since second
grade and throughout our school years he was picked on horribly because
he wore thick glasses and could not participate in sports. Thinking back
on it now, I wonder if those years of being an outcast in school didn't
somehow prepare him for what he would go through years later.
After graduation, Wes went off to college. Not sure of what path he
wanted to follow he went first to a local college and then to the
university in our home state. During this time Wes was diagnosed with
RP. Coping with his disease at first was not easy for him. Mobility
Training was far from easy. The thought of using a white cane did not
appeal to him but he learned what he could. The friends at college that
he had at the time had a hard time accepting and coping with his disease
also. Wes stuck it out at college and got his bachelor's degree in
English. His family moved to Texas and he soon followed. In some ways,
life was easier there. People there did not know the sighted Wesley, so
he seemed to be accepted better. As Wes tells it for a while after that
he carried around alot of anger and the sound of breaking glass became
very soothing to him.
After several failed attempts to find employment, a councilor at the
Texas Commission for the Blind suggested that Wes go back to college. By
this time he was loosing what seemed like big "chunks" of his vision at
a time. Wes was using a Visual Teck by this time but decided that he was
going to try to finish his education.
Getting an education under the best conditions is not easy but for a
person with a disability it can sometimes seem like an insurmountable
feat. Wes was persistant however. He graduated and got his Master degree
in English. However, he still wasn't finished. He continued his
education and got his PhD in American Literature. He did his thesis on
Mark Twain and wrote for the Mark Twain encyclopedia. He soon became
known as the world's expert in Mark Twain in the media. He is a member
of the Mark Twain forum and will be a featured speaker at their upcoming
convention in August 2001.
These are not my husband's only accomplishments. He writes encyclopedia
articles and book reviews for Salem Publishing in California. He is an
accomplished poet and president of a local poetry society. He teaches
English at the local community college. He has been listed in Marquis
Who's Who for the last several years and is in their Who's Who in the
World publication for the year 2000. He is active in the local Citizen's
with Disabilities group and has given some practical English seminars at
their last two conventions.
He came back to his hometown in Pennsylvania two years ago. We reunited
and have been married for just over a year now. Wesley lost what little
he had left of his sight just before he came home and is now totally
blind but he never seems to let this get in his way.
My husband is living proof that no dream is unattainable if your desire
is strong enough. He is an ispiration to his students and I am proud to
be his wife. Since I have never had any previous experiance with
blindness before reuniting with him, he has taught me much. He never
seems to loose patience with me and sometimes I have to wonder which one
of us truly has a disability.
I am hoping that this very shortened version of his story is of
interest to you and any who may read it. As I tell anyone who will
listen when I tell Wes's story--if ever you feel like you can't go on
and want to give up. Think of my husband and all he went through to make
his dreams come true and know that no goal is outside of your reach if
you want it bad enough.
Original address of this page:
www.jwen.com/rp/experience/wesley.html
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