Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
The life of Lenny Reid, sight-impaired father of eight, has inspired his daughter Doreen to write a book about him.Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer
DOREEN REID wrote all of 56 poems in two weeks, last year, in honour of her father, Lenny Reid.
She wrote in a fever of inspiration after Father's Day, for a father who is blind, who has eight children, three of whom are blind, and who has admirably stood up to the challenges of being a father and a husband.
"He is the best dad in the world," Doreen says.
Lenny Reid, in an interview with Outlook, said that although he became blind after five years of marriage and fatherhood, she never felt that he should give up on trying to be a good parent and husband.
So his daughter in a salute to his efforts wrote the poems, saying "It was night and day, night and day, under the inspiration of the Lord."
Doreen insists that he is simply the best father in the world, for the way in which he has worked hard to support his wife and children and the values with which his offspring were grown.
Doreen's marathon effort came after a maiden try - "The Best Dad in the World", won a competition on RJR radio. At an invitation from RJR's Richie B. for entries to a Father's Day poetry competition, the poem was sent in. Doreen came out on top.
The other poems, all written about her father, arrived in a flood and will form part of a book, "The Life of a True Father", she plans to publish, as soon as she finds the funds to do so. The poems were all initially written in Braille. Doreen is one of the three children who are sight-impaired.
Soon to be 33 years old, she is a first year Social Work student of the University of the West Indies, one of the three children who, though sight-impaired, are all professionals.
Her life on paper reads pretty well, but as she speaks to Outlook, we begin to read between the lines.
Like others who are sight-impaired she has lead a very challenging life, and could have been embittered by it. However, she has adopted her father's outlook on life, which is to always continue trying, and to be grateful for the small blessings when they come.
Doreen graduated from Mico Teachers' College in 2001 as a guidance counsellor, something which she loves very much, but she has been unable to find employment in the field. All her interviews were received negatively. No one, she says, could wrap their minds around the concept of a blind guidance counsellor.
After college, she stayed one year at home and them decided to do additional work in her chosen field. Social work is an extension of her interest in guidance and counselling. Fundamentally, she believes in the power of education to transform her life. At least, her father has told her this. She believes him.
One of the poems which she has written about her father's philosophies says, "we all have a right to be educated." But, it also cautions, "no work is downgrading. Be educated to whatever degree... Look what you can do with our hands."
So, working during the holidays as a telephone operator and receptionist, she continues to try to achieve her goals.
The book about her father, represents Doreen's latest stab at independence as well as a promised source of inspiration for others who find life a continuous struggle.
Mr. Reid has quietly accepted the accolade from his daughter and comments, "When I see how other men treat their family, beating their wives, abandoning their children, when I see that I am a blind person and God can help me to do what I can... I can stand up and say that there are still good men around."
His wife and three stepchildren are enthusiastic supporters of the father's sentiments. Willel, daughter of Mrs. Reid who was parented by Lenny after marriage, comments that if her step father ever refused her anything, it was definitely because he did not have it.
Lenny Reid became blind at age 26, five years after marriage, after a blow to the head and the development of cataracts in one eye. He remembers being worried in those early days about supporting his young family, but he received training at the Salvation Army in the weaving of corded verandah chairs and also started a career of selling by the school. With these two ventures, he has supported his family for the last 32 years.
"I am poor, but ambition is good," says Lenny."
Raising his children as a blind man was also a challenge, but he said he made a habit of telling them whatever he was punishing them for and also showed them love. They have responded by living lives of integrity, he believes. He has cautioned them never to beg and all his sight impaired children have careers.
He has never been too proud to receive gifts, however, especially when they came in response to his prayers. Still, he has laid down the law.
"I have always told them, even though you are blind, do not beg."
Doreen comments, "because of the struggling, I have developed the ambition to work hard for anything I want in life."
In the poem from which the title of the manuscript is taken, she says:
Although my dad is blind,
he is the best dad you will ever find
He washes, cooks, cleans,
he cares, he supports
His eight children
will love and cherish him
to the end of time
The book also comments on her father's marriage to her mother and the commitment that they made to each other in the poem 'My dad who made a true commitment.'
My dad got married at age 21
To my mom aged 32
their love for each other was strong
That it propelled them to say
'I do, for better, for worse
Until death do us part
Their love came straight from the heart.
Lenny Reid proposed to his wife after promptings from the Holy Spirit, Outlook was told. The couple defied disapproving friends and relatives and have stayed married for 27 years. His wife, Phyllis, states, "he is a really good husband. He cannot see and he does his little selling. He brings in the money and he hands it over to me. If I want anything, he will try to help me as long as he can afford it."
Mrs. Reid is a former office attendant. Now aged over 70, she is cared for by her children, many of whom still live at home. The family does not have much materially, but they have love, and that abundantly.
Doreen is depending on the book to pay her tuition fees for second year and hopes that she will be assisted in its publication. She also plans to write another book based on her experiences as a blind individual living in Jamaica, and her family.
"They were the best parents in the world," she says.
