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megram - dwsummer - Index

self basic Braille and became a motivational
speaker.
Acute glaucoma slowly robbed
Theresa Dupuis of her sight but it
only increased her vision.
“I’m 78 going on 48,” she chuckles.
“When I lost my sight, one door
closed but so many opened. So many
doors opened that I won’t have time
to go through all of them.”
A member of the National
Gallery’s Accessibility Advisory Board
and President of the Canadian
Council of the Blind, Theresa is generous
not only with her time but also
with her enthusiasm.
“Theresa is absolutely phenomenal.
She is inspirational,” says Alice
Grenon, Canadian National Institute
for the Blind (CNIB) Volunteer
Coordinator, Services and Operations.
“She does a good portion of our community
outreach awareness program.
“I would not want to go back to
the sighted world because I am helping
people,” Theresa says with the
conviction of someone who has experienced
life in both dimensions. “I
was blessed in the sighted world and
now I’m blessed in the blind world.”
FROM SIGHT TO
VISION LOSS
Widowed at 51, Theresa worked
full-time as a special assistant on
Parliament Hill for 23 years before
that fateful day in the doctor’s office,
when she learned about her impending
vision loss.
She had been driving for 30 years
but knew that the blotchiness and
“hallows” she was experiencing
weren’t normal. He told her that she
would be blind in 10 years.
“I told the doctor that it wasn’t
the news I wanted to hear, but from
here on in I will live my life with what
I have,” she recalls. “I never feared
the blindness because my sight went
gradually.”
Motivating others to be the best
they can be has become Theresa’s
life’s work.
“Never let an opportunity pass you
by” is one of several key messages she
delivers in her weekly talks at schools,
government offices and retirement
homes. She has also addressed audiences
at several United Way/Centraide
Ottawa functions, including the 2007
campaign achievement event. “You
can’t let your past become your future”
and “there is a lot of good news in the
world but it doesn’t sell like the bad
stuff” are two of her other pearls of wisdom.
When sculptor Hilde Paz
approached Theresa about using clay
to “see through her hands” as part of
an innovative sculpture therapy program,
she didn’t hesitate to seize the
opportunity.
“We proceeded very methodically,
building up a sculptural repertoire
that would enable her to learn the language
of the form,” says Hilde. “A
brave new world opened up. Theresa’s
hands are now sensitive to the under-
Due West Magazine • Page 29 • Summer 2008
lying energy that lives within clay.”
Her sculptures speckle the living
room in her Merivale Road area
home. She knows the placement of
each. She tells its story with all the passion
of a woman who birthed it. When
she gets to the piece she calls “In His
Hands,” she lowers herself to the
ground and kneels before it. It is built
around a rod and hangs above a
pedestal. She carefully places her
hands over the hands-of- clay.
“I can see it perfectly,” she says,
smiling.
It is obvious that faith has played a
significant role in forming Theresa’s
resolve to look forward with excitement
rather than backwards with frustration.
EXPERIENCES GALORE
Theresa was 69 years old when she
joined the Ski Hawks at Camp Fortune.
“I remember saying, ‘Gee that sounds
like fun. I want to do that’.” The Ski
Hawks is a downhill ski program for
COMING TO A SOCCER FIELD NEAR YOU!
Kanata Soccer Winter 2008-2009
Registration Starts August 15
We offer:
• Development programs for ages 4 – 21
• Youth house league for ages 9 – 19
• All youth programs run from mid-October to March
• Adult league games – 2 seasons, October to December
and January to April
• Men Open
• Men Over 35 (1973 and older)
• Women Over 30 (1978 and older)
• Register and pay online for programs at www.kanatasoccer.com
• Discounts for 3 or more programs per family
• Registration Forms are available online at www.kanatasoccer.com and
at the Kanata Soccer office, Thunderbird Sports Centre,
Home of Kanata Soccer, 1927 Richardson Side Road
Join us on the field for Winter Soccer
Visit our web-site www.kanatasoccer.com or email us at
ksoffice@kanatasoccer.com or call 613 836-5787 for more
winter program information.