(gentle music)
- I am George West, native of Pennsylvania.
I joined the Air Force in March of 1955.
My great-grandfather was a freed slave
who had fought with union armies and civil war.
After the war was over,
were trying to find their way back to their homes
and they were set upon by a mob, severely beaten.
And my great-grandfather
and one of the other members were lynched.
I was filled with a lot of bitterness,
a lot of distrust of the white race
but I met Audrey when we were both 19 years old.
And after seeing how Audrey did not...
Truly, she did not see color.
I began to realize
that I was doing something that I was arguing against
and fighting against.
I didn't know the proper terminology at that time
but it was stereotyping.
It was not a time I believe early middle '50s
for a relationship such as ours
and we ended up going our separate ways.
She planted the seed that made me change
all those feelings that I had.
Then going into the military and meeting people,
other guys from all over this country, various races,
ethnic backgrounds, religious backgrounds
just made that feeling that she had started within me
grow even more.
And we had no connection at all for 43 years.
(gentle music)
We connected again
(chuckles) with both of us were at age 62 at the time,
but she was widowed, I was divorced.
This renewal if you will
was even better than the first time.
we were both older,
we had been through a lot of life's experiences
and we were much more mature than we had been at 19.
To me it was one of the most fulfilling times in my life.
I think when I first noticed I was having problems
was probably 2010, 2012 in that neighborhood.
I was diagnosed with macular degeneration.
Eventually it started getting worse and worse and worse
and I lost vision in the left eye altogether.
But that same time
that I was diagnosed with macular degeneration
was when Audrey was diagnosed with Parkinson's
and eventually she had to be put into a nursing home.
And because of Covid, I couldn't be there
and she passed away in April this past year.
The programs that the VA has in the health care
such as the one I'm going through now,
blind rehabilitation is phenomenal.
Lady I came over with this morning
teaches mobility and how to get around.
And I've been introduced to, as you saw a wink earlier,
I came in with the long cane
and how it helps when you can not see objects
or a depression in a sidewalk and that helps tremendously.
I did a lot cooking
and I've being helped in learning my way around a kitchen.
There are handheld magnifying devices
that will help me read recipes.
I was introduced to a meat thermometer
just a couple of days ago that actually talks to you.
(George chuckles)
With this training that I'm going through now
and with the various different helpful devices they have,
I can regain a lot of that.
So first of all I'm regaining
a certain amount of self-confidence that I had lost.
Secondly, it's a return to a certain amount of independence
that each one of us has but we don't really realize
until it's gone.
So I'm looking forward to whatever my future holds
because of these things and I honestly believe
if I am a decent person today, a decent human being,
it's because Audrey used something that Dr. King once said,
"To be judged by my character and not the color of my skin."
And I've tried my best to do that most of my life.
And like I said, she was the one that planted that seed
and I'm forever grateful.
I only wish I could have told her.
(gentle music)