Embracing Life’s Rich Pageant: Meet Wanda

Many nights, you can find 77-year-old Wanda Thomas out on the dance floor at a local club “shaking a leg all night, showing what blind people can do,” as she says.

Her journey through vision loss has included many ups and downs over the past 45 years since she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) at age 32, but she sums it up by saying, “I am a positive individual, and I don’t let nothing stop me.”

It was 1980 when Wanda first learned she would lose her vision. She had just moved to Sacramento because of her husband’s job, and she was in left field playing softball when the sunlight hit her eyes, and she began noticing changes to her vision.  

“When I learned I had RP, it was devastating and I was very depressed,” Wanda said. “No one wants to know they’re losing their sight and won’t be able to do the things they normally do as a person, like drive. We always ask why me, but we can’t. We just have to channel it into something else.”

As her vision slowly deteriorated, Wanda was still able to drive for 25 more years. She enjoyed a career in human resources and then as a daycare provider.

But by the mid-2000s, she had lost her peripheral vision, and her central vision began to fade, so she could no longer drive. She visited her ophthalmologist who handed her a flier for Society for the Blind.

“I knew I needed an avenue to learn how to do things without sight,” Wanda said. “Even though I was going blind, I could still have a life. I had my husband to help me, but I said no, you never know what will be thrown your way. Society said they empowered people losing vision, and I thought that sounded pretty good.”

Wanda began with our Senior IMPACT Project immersion retreat, where she learned how to use a cane, cook and practice daily living skills without sight. She became a senior mentor and went on to take our Core classes, including technology and independent living skills.

In 2009, Wanda’s husband was diagnosed with cancer, and four years later he passed away.

“It was so good I took those classes, because otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Wanda said. “Society is like my second home. I needed that support when my husband passed. It’s a place I can go and learn and replenish my knowledge. The people there are great individuals, and I just love them.”

As she continued to take classes at Society for the Blind, she found herself more open to experiences she used to shy away from. When she was sighted, she found computers too difficult and said they felt like a foreign language.

“When I got into Core, I learned computers so quickly and easily,” Wanda said. “I realized it was just a mindset. I just didn’t want to do it before, and then when I had to, I understood it more. Now I’m able to use my computer and my iPhone.”

She also used to shy away from singing in public, but now you can find her performing at Society for the Blind’s talent shows.

“Anytime Society puts a program on, I’m there,” Wanda said. “I don’t deter from anything, and if I’m needed to help someone, I’m there.”

Wanda horseback riding

Wanda also is a member of our Black Americans Senior Support Group (BASS), which has become one of our most socially active groups, meeting monthly for birthday parties, bowling, restaurant excursions and more.

“Our BASS group is so motivated to do things with each other,” Wanda said. “It’s so great to be with other people who have the same insights I have and encourage you to be the person you want to be.”

BASS recently planned and enjoyed a cruise together from Long Beach to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. Wanda said many people in the group of 20 were afraid of the water and had to be talked into going. By the end, everyone had the time of their lives.

“When we got on the ship, everyone just loved it,” she said. “It wasn’t what they thought. The water wasn’t rough, the activities were fun, the people who served us meals were so good, and the food was excellent.”

Throughout the trip, the group enjoyed a comedy show, ate at Shaquille O’Neal’s restaurant, had ice cream on Catalina Island, enjoyed dressing up for a captain’s ball, and bought purses and tequila in Mexico. They even rode horses.

“I was really good, I was Annie Oakley on that horse,” Wanda said. “One friend, I won’t tell you her name, kept shouting, ‘Mama, let me off!’ We all just laughed and laughed. The people who had the fear of that trip were not fearful at all. The trip was outstanding, and we’re already wanting to go on another cruise.”

Since her husband’s passing, Wanda lives with her daughter in South Sacramento, and her son lives just five miles away. All her grandchildren live in the area. She still has some light perception in her central vision but otherwise cannot see. Her life is full and rich, thanks in part to the community she found at Society for the Blind.

“Anyone out there who is losing their vision and feeling lost, you need to come to Society for the Blind,” Wanda said. “You need to say to yourself, ‘I can love myself and I can do anything a sighted person can do, I just need to use a different method.’ Don’t stay home and look at those four walls. Come to Society and be happy within yourself.”

Wanda and friends at a cruise port (Wanda is standing 2nd to the left, wearing a pink top)