Christopher T. Monnette
About Author
Over the years I have been called: father, husband, brother, friend, Marine, entrepreneur, coffee roaster, corporate executive, photographer, and writer to name a few of the labels that I care to repeat here.
In 2013, I added a new label - visually impaired. Like more than 11 million Americans, I was diagnosed with macular degeneration - a chronic, progressive, and irreversible disease that has slowly robbed me of my central vision, the narrow part of my vision that is responsible for reading, seeing vivid colors, and recognizing faces. The loss of the latter is the most painful, by far.
I was scared about what that might mean for my future. The vulnerability that comes with a visual impairment wasn’t something that I was emotionally ready to accept. I started writing about my journey as a way to explore my own emotions about the challenge I was facing. Along the way, my view of the world has changed both literally and figuratively.
My goal for this blog and my memoir, Seeing Clearly, is to share my experience with both my growing disability and the blessings it has brought me in terms of self-discovery.
My hope is that you will find something in my story that will challenge the way you see the world as well, because with out challenge there can be little change.
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart"