Joy of cooking eases sadness of lost eyesight
Moving carefully but confidently, Amy Rodriguez reached into the refrigerator and brought out a package of chicken.
She set it on a cutting board before grasping the handle of a sharp knife whose blade was enclosed in a space inside the cutting board.
Then she began chopping the chicken into smaller pieces for the arroz con pollo she was preparing.
“She still cooks and she cooks good,” said Juan Izquierdo, her husband. The couple have been together 51 years.
Measuring the rice and water isn’t a problem, Rodriguez said. She can sense the weight of the correct amounts, combining them in a bamboo bowl before putting them on the stove.
Tiny bumps attached to some of the stovetop’s temperature settings let her detect different degrees of heat.
With most of her vision gone, she relies more on her other senses.
“I know it’s bubbling by the popping sound,” she said. “By the smell, I know the chicken is done.”
Her husband said he’s pleased she’s resumed cooking, although he insists someone be with her in the kitchen of their Winter Haven home when she utilizes her culinary skills.
Fear of not being able to cook for her family was one of Rodriguez’ greatest worries as her vision deteriorated.
Although diagnosed with macular degeneration at age 35, Rodriquez, now 69, was able to keep driving until a couple of years ago.
She even drove to her first training class at Lighthouse for the Blind & Low Vision in Winter Haven, until instructors told her driving to class wasn’t allowed and gently suggested it was time to quit driving.
“At that time, I had some vision in both eyes,” Rodriguez said. “I was losing sight in my left eye faster than expected.”
Last year, however, she came close to dying.
“March 10, 2021, I got the COVID,” she recalled.
“When I woke up, I couldn’t see. That was March 31 when I found my vision was not there.”
She spent much of the past year recuperating from multiple post-COVID health problems, in addition to severely reduced vision.
Earlier this year, she returned to Lighthouse for additional training in making the most of what sight she retains. She can see items up close if they are within the range of her side vision.
“Side vision works but it wasn’t meant to read or write with,” she said. “It’s a glance but a glance can do a lot.”
What she learned at Lighthouse included using a cane and reacquainting herself with adaptive devices like the ones in her kitchen.
She’s made adjustments, preparing simpler meals than before. Yet she’s expanding her repertoire of predominantly Hispanic dishes to embrace foods like chicken curry from other cultures.
A needle with a notch designed to grab onto thread helps her continue another family custom she values. She’s finishing up a baby quilt for her 13th great-grandchild.
She made baby quilts for three daughters, 10 grandchildren and a dozen other great-grandkids, Rodriguez said. The one due this month isn’t going to be left out.
robinwadams99@yahoo.com
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Joy of Cooking for Family Eases Sadness of Lost Eyesight
