A Very Mary Celebration

This past summer, I took my niece to De Smet, South Dakota. As we soared across half the country high above the clouds in an airplane, I read By the Shores of Silver Lake to her and thought what a good thing it was we didn’t have to travel to De Smet the same way they did or we’d never get there!

Silver Lake is one of my favorite Little House books because of the hope the family holds, the richness of having all their needs met, the focus on the family’s life through the winter with no intruders except the Boasts who are such dear souls they simply belong. But I had forgotten, until I started reading it aloud to her for the very first time and hearing it through her ears, how dreadfully sad the beginning of that book is. Not four paragraphs into it and I was uttering the words that broke my niece’s heart: “…and Mary was blind.”

I had not been prepared for the sharp intake of breath, nor for the look of horror that flashed across her face. She quickly sought reassurance — some hope. “Did she get better? Could she see again later?” I quietly shook my head and gave her some time to process that before going on.

I didn’t expect it to be such a shock. Honestly, I think that I’ve just known Mary as being blind for so long that I forgot she didn’t already know it. I never remember it being such a traumatic experience for me, but then, Laura was always my favorite character. I never cared for Mary the way I did for Laura, and therefore, her personal tragedy didn’t affect me so greatly. My niece is different. Perhaps it’s the blonde hair, but Mary has always been her favorite. And now her favorite is blind. I guess it would be shocking.

She dealt with this dreadful blow by becoming obsessed with all things blind. This might be in her favor, as eye trouble runs in the family, and the adorable frames now perched upon her little nose are a hint that she’s inherited them.

It started when she and Sandra’s little brown-haired “Laura” befriended each other at the Ingalls Homestead, and they went for walks together across the very ground on which Laura and Mary used to take their evening walks. My niece played like she was blind, closing her eyes and sticking her hands out in front of her, while allowing Sandra’s daughter to lead her around. Oh, but they were funny!

But it didn’t end there. In De Smet, there is a Braille activity in the museum’s hands-on learning center and she set herself quickly to practicing writing numerous words and phrases in Braille. In Mansfield this fall, the museum had an actual Braille writer there for the kids to use, and again she was fascinated. (Mary actually used New York Point so I guess I’m going to have to introduce her to that next!)

And then there was the time she asked me why the Ingalls family didn’t train Jack to be Mary’s Seeing Eye dog.

(I neglected to remind her that (as the books tell it) Jack died right after Mary went blind anyway. Why bring up yet another traumatic moment? Although that traumatic moment was mine; after experiencing her shock at Mary’s blindness, I sobbed my way through Jack’s death thinking how very awful this was going to be for her, my little animal lover, and she was left entirely unfazed. Go figure.)

So just imagine my excitement when someone from the Museum for the American Printing House for the Blind contacted us a month ago asking for information on Mary Ingalls for an exhibit they were adding. Imagine my further excitement upon learning that said museum is located in Louisville, Kentucky. Why, that’s just the next state over! A “Little House” related activity close enough that we could actually drive there and back in the same day!? Such a thing is unheard of!

Just browsing through the museum’s site, I was already hooked even without the Mary exhibit. It looked like something my niece would just go crazy over. Add in Mary and the place was designed just for her! But that wasn’t all.

You see, a birthday party is in the works! A birthday party for Mary! Oh, my niece is excited! And so am I. The museum hopes to launch the new Mary Ingalls exhibit as part of this weekend and much “Little House” fun is anticipated. Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 9, 2010, from 10 am to noon. The event is free, but registration is recommended. Call  (502) 899-2365 to sign up.  And we’ll see you there!