If I Had Three Days of Light - Student Quality Library (Teacher Accompanied Reading Edition)

Author: Keller
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-07-01
Features: On sunny days, my family ancestors initially came from Sweden and later immigrated and settled in Maryland, USA. It's quite incredible that one of my ancestors was actually an expert in deaf and blind education! I'm sure he never imagined he would have a descendant like me who is both blind, deaf, and mute. Whenever I think about this, I can't help but feel a sense of wonder: life is unpredictable, and fate is truly unknowable! My ancestors bought land in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and settled there, and the entire family began to live and multiply there. Back then, due to its remote location, my grandfather had to ride horseback from Tuscaloosa to Philadelphia, 760 miles away, every year to buy daily necessities, farming tools, fertilizer, and seeds for the house and farm. Every time my grandfather traveled to Philadelphia, he would write home to report his safety, and his letters vividly described the scenery along the western route and the people, events, and things he encountered during the journey. Even now, people still enjoy reading through my grandfather's letters endlessly, as if they were reading an adventure novel. Before I lost my sight and hearing due to illness, the house we lived in was very small, consisting of only one square room and a small room for the servants. According to Southern customs, it was common to add another room next to one's residence for emergencies. After the Civil War, my father also built such a room, and after he married my mother, they moved into this small house. The small house was covered with grapevines, climbing roses, and honeysuckle, and from a distance, it looked like a pavilion made of branches. The small balcony was hidden among the yellow roses and Southern ginseng flowers, becoming a world for hummingbirds and bees. The house where my grandfather and grandmother lived was just a few steps away from us. Since our house was surrounded by dense trees and vines, the neighbors called it the "Green Home." This was the paradise of my childhood. Before my family teacher, Miss Sullivan, arrived, I often walked alone along the square boxwood fence, slowly heading into the garden, using my sense of smell to find the first blooms of violets and lilies, deeply inhaling their fresh fragrance. When I felt down, I would come here alone to seek comfort. I liked to press my burning face against the cool, refreshing leaves and grass, letting my restless mind calm down a bit. Every time I immersed myself in this green garden, my mood would become exceptionally cheerful. There were creeping vines and hanging jasmine on the ground, as well as a rare flower called the "butterfly orchid." Its easily falling petals resembled butterfly wings, hence the name, and the flower emitted a sweet, fragrant scent. But the most beautiful of all were the roses. In the North, even in greenhouses, it was rare to see such climbing roses as those in my Southern home. They climbed everywhere, hanging in long strands from the balcony, emitting a refreshing fragrance with no trace of dust. Every morning, they were dressed in morning dew, feeling soft and comfortable to the touch, intoxicatingly wonderful. I often thought to myself, even God's paradise couldn't be more beautiful! My father, Arthur Keller, was a captain in the Southern army during the Civil War, and my mother, Kate Adams, was his second wife, who was several years younger than him. On June 27, 1880, I was born in a town called Tuscaloosa in southern Alabama, USA. The early stages of my life were simple and ordinary, just like when every family welcomes a new child—my parents and family were all filled with joy. Everyone struggled to come up with a name for me, each believing their idea was the most meaningful. My father wanted to name me after his most respected ancestor, "Middle Campell," while my mother wanted to use her mother's name, "Helen Everett." After much discussion, they decided to follow my mother's wish and name me after her mother. P2-3