Having grown up as a child in the mountains, forests and farmlands of Idaho, Elsie Monthei (pronounced Mont-hee) has a rugged independent spirit and a deep love for nature which is evident in her artwork. She has a passion for painting landscapes which hides the fact that she is legally blind from birth. Elsie says that she ‘traded Idaho potatoes for Iowa corn’ when she married her husband, Arlo Monthei, years ago and moved to his home in the state of Iowa. They live with their service dog, Amber, and cat, Felina in their lovely home in Des Moines, Iowa. Arlo is a retired occupational therapist who has congenital myopia and colorblindness. Elsie retired from her job at the Iowa State’s Department for the Blind. She is also passionate about gardening is also a Master Gardener and a member of the Greater Des Moines Gardening Club. She and Arlo have been active in advocacy issues for the visually impaired.
For more on Elsie as an artist and her contribution as an advocate. You could find the last part of the interview on Monday the 19th on the eyeway blog.
Please find below the link to the last part of the interview.
http://www.eyeway.org/?q=elsie-monthei-life-artist-and-contribution-advo...
When I was young I lived on a farm and in the forests of Idaho with my parents, a brother and a sister. My father was a logger who worked a log jammer. In the summertime we lived in tents. In the wintertime we moved to an area where my father worked in a saw mill. I had a diverse and interesting childhood. My parents were positive examples of being hard workers. It was instilled in us that we needed to work to make a living and to help others.
Right. I stayed one time with my grandparents on the next farm when I was age two or three. I was sleeping in the bedroom with my grandfather. When I woke up I didn’t realise where I was and I ran in to the wall. My grandmother said, “I told your parents: ‘I believe this child is blind!’” A counsellor came from Boise to see my family when they discovered that I was blind. At that time it was thought that it was caused when my mother had the measles while expecting me. Years later it was thought that I had congenital cataract, when my two younger daughters were diagnosed with it after they were born.
Some of the friends I had in the high school at the School for the Blind were closer than my sister and brother were because I lived with them there. There were deaf students too. In my first year there my parents lived in Alaska (about 2,700 miles from Idaho) and I went for Christmas to my grandmother’s in Idaho for the first time and it was pretty lonely without my brother and sister. The person who influenced me most as far as doing speeches and drama was a Junior High school teacher. The School for the Blind had community activities. People used to go to things that were cultural. I got to see Madame Butterfly and go to movies. I was involved with environmental work before it became the popular thing to do. If I hadn’t had this experience at this school I probably would not have had a cultural education. I learnt about Helen Keller for the first time at this school. She was a very positive role model for all of us.
Elsie: We had a bit of a hard time explaining to our families why we wanted to have children because there was always the possibility that Arlo’s genetic vision issue would come up. At that time we didn’t know that mine was also genetic because it was misdiagnosed. We decided that the gift that God gives you is what you accept. Arlo and I had two daughters who are blind from congenital cataract and they are accomplished individuals. One is an artist in Hawaii. The other has a Master’s degree in Social Services and was a deaf-blind specialist but is now a stay-at-home mother with a child. Through my oldest daughter in Idaho I have three granddaughters. She got the good genes …. or however you want to look at it …. has no visual issues.
Arlo: She has the Levis!
Elsie: Her name is Lee, so she wears ‘Leev-eyes’ (Levis)! (Laughing) My two younger daughters had the Phaco-emulsification surgery for cataract when they were a month old and it was successful. Elsie: We left the rural town of Altoona, Iowa which was not accessible and moved to Des Moines because it had a bus system. Our daughters would have opportunities to go places, get a job or go to school on their own in Des Moines. Their school system was very supportive of the arts, Math and students with disabilities. For most of our lives we were advocates for our children. We wanted them to have jobs and be independent. We wanted them to come to us with any problem they had. We didn't say, “You can't do this” or “You can't do that”, but set positive examples for them.
My sister was my advocate. She was a tomboy who would cross logs over creeks and say, “I can do it, so can you. Just try. Don’t look down!” So I crossed the log behind her and I didn’t even have to hang on. I had to move back home for a short time when I was waiting to join college. I got a letter which said that I wasn’t accepted because I was blind. My sister took me to meet the Dean of the college. She said, “Just because my sister is blind doesn’t mean that she is not smart.” I got admission to the college.
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