Despite frigid temperatures and snowy roads, the turnout to Mary’s birthday party hosted by the American Printing House for the Blind Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, was tremendous. More than 150 guests sang happy birthday to Mary and had cake (from a 19th century recipe!) and lemonade in her honor — and over 500 people had to be turned away due to lack of space!! Wow!!

The event launched a new gallery to be on permanent display in the museum — a display commemorating the life of Mary Ingalls. After all, when you stop to think about it, isn’t it pretty amazing that the blind child of an impoverished 19th century family obtained a college education? What an accomplishment — and unlike other “Little House” displays that revolve primarily around Laura and her books, with brief mentions of “what happened next” to the other girls in the family, this display highlights Mary’s life, her education, her accomplishments.

The party itself held fun for guests of all ages. To kick things off, an audio presentation (so blind guests can equally participate with sighted!) of Mary’s life was aired. I was impressed at how beautifully it encapsulated the details of Mary’s life, and have to say this may be the most accurate “Little House” presentation I have ever heard.

The presentation was followed by fiddle music and a singalong of some of the songs from the “Little House” books, readings of poetry written by Mary, and crafts for the kids — beadwork and button strings!

The rest of the museum was also open for viewing, featuring plenty of tactile stimulation along with information on the history of education of the blind, and other famous blind individuals, such as Helen Keller. (I prepared my own little Mary-lover for the big event by watching Melissa Gilbert (had to have another “Little House” tie-in!) in “The Miracle Worker” the night before.)

She especially enjoyed the Braille writer, and spent much time learning to type her name, her alphabet, and other messages in Braille.

All in all, it was a great day — topped off by the party favors sent home with each guest:  a little heart-shaped cake wrapped in tissue paper, reminiscent of the ones Laura and Mary received in their Christmas stockings in Indian Territory.

If you’re ever in the Louisville area, I highly recommend a visit to the museum — this new exhibit is a fabulous addition to Laura’s (and Mary’s) legacy! Happy birthday, Mary! (And happy birthday, Pa!)

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!

Watching Little House with my kids (they’re just starting to get into it), I’m checking out Nellie’s sewing technique as she plays Meg to Mary’s Marmee in the Walnut Grove school production of Little Women. Remember, the one where classmate Ginny cuts her hair to buy her mom a dress so she can go to the play with Mr. Mayfield?

Anyway, the two of them are onstage, sewing. And Mary’s pantomiming tiny, even stitches (heh), coming out on the top of her invisible fabric then bringing the “needle” around to the bottom.

And Nellie? She keeps just stabbing the top of the fabric over and over again. She’s not sewing, she’s poking pinhole after pinhole. And why? Because Nellie never learned to sew, and Mary has sewn every day of her young life. That’s some fine character acting from Alison Arngrim. She knows Nellie.

I’m not the hugest fan of the TV show, so it’s nice when I get a kick out of it.