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1
00:01:03,365 --> 00:01:06,654
Hello. Testing, testing, testing...
2
00:01:18,845 --> 00:01:21,037
Daddy, Daddy...
3
00:01:36,045 --> 00:01:38,765
This is cassette one, track one.
4
00:01:38,885 --> 00:01:40,683
10th of July 1983.
5
00:01:41,965 --> 00:01:43,718
Have we begun yet?
6
00:01:43,845 --> 00:01:46,679
Disembodied voices... 22nd February.
7
00:01:46,805 --> 00:01:49,274
Speaking out of nowhere... 1984.
8
00:01:49,405 --> 00:01:51,124
Disappearing into nowhere.
9
00:01:53,965 --> 00:01:56,560
Thank you very much for the tape.
10
00:01:56,685 --> 00:02:00,123
Everything drifting away.
Waterlogged, immobile.
11
00:02:00,245 --> 00:02:02,362
Hello and welcome to...
12
00:02:04,565 --> 00:02:07,285
A religious crisis... Down, down...
13
00:02:07,405 --> 00:02:09,476
Can't we just go back?
14
00:02:25,005 --> 00:02:27,042
It's a long time ago, isn't it?
15
00:02:27,165 --> 00:02:28,281
Hmm...
16
00:02:33,045 --> 00:02:35,640
How difficult it is to remember the detail...
17
00:02:44,125 --> 00:02:46,321
Let's think...
18
00:02:48,405 --> 00:02:51,318
We were married on the 1st November
19
00:02:51,445 --> 00:02:52,674
'79.
20
00:02:54,325 --> 00:02:56,237
Well, you were driving, of course.
21
00:02:56,365 --> 00:02:59,358
Well, you certainly weren't driving!
22
00:02:59,485 --> 00:03:01,158
We took off down to...
23
00:03:01,285 --> 00:03:04,722
- We got to Chichester.
- Oh, that was it... Was it?
24
00:03:04,845 --> 00:03:08,600
- Where was our honeymoon?
- The southern edge of the...
25
00:03:08,725 --> 00:03:11,877
- What was it called?
- Began with a C, Cirencester.
26
00:03:12,005 --> 00:03:14,520
Ah! That was it, Cirencester.
27
00:03:14,645 --> 00:03:16,364
That's a long way...
28
00:03:24,365 --> 00:03:25,924
That ghastly B&B!
29
00:03:26,045 --> 00:03:28,640
Was quite the worst place
we've ever stayed in.
30
00:03:28,765 --> 00:03:30,916
I don't remember it being so bad.
31
00:03:31,045 --> 00:03:33,924
- The bed was covered in dust!
- Yeah.
32
00:03:34,045 --> 00:03:36,480
- I'm sure there were bedbugs.
- Well.
33
00:03:58,805 --> 00:04:01,240
Do you remember the way the tide came in?
34
00:04:03,765 --> 00:04:05,404
Right up the main street.
35
00:04:34,205 --> 00:04:37,243
It took the form of a... dark,
36
00:04:37,365 --> 00:04:38,845
black disc...
37
00:04:42,445 --> 00:04:46,883
which slowly progressed across
the field of vision.
38
00:04:50,605 --> 00:04:52,562
Went very quickly.
39
00:04:55,665 --> 00:04:59,954
The doctor said that the eye
was so badly traumatised
40
00:05:00,085 --> 00:05:02,998
from previous surgery...
41
00:05:06,165 --> 00:05:10,045
"All we'll be able to do
is to preserve a little bit of sight."
42
00:05:13,365 --> 00:05:15,641
Of course, you never believe that.
43
00:05:17,885 --> 00:05:19,604
You keep on hoping.
44
00:05:26,365 --> 00:05:28,925
That was the final eye operation.
45
00:05:29,045 --> 00:05:30,274
Yes.
46
00:05:40,365 --> 00:05:44,075
You were just out of hospital
when Tom was born.
47
00:05:45,845 --> 00:05:48,201
He's smiling.
48
00:05:51,925 --> 00:05:53,678
He's smiling at you.
49
00:06:30,765 --> 00:06:33,599
I still had that little bit of vision.
50
00:06:42,485 --> 00:06:45,796
I would see a flicker of a shadow
across the window
51
00:06:45,925 --> 00:06:48,156
as you moved across it.
52
00:06:48,285 --> 00:06:50,641
Yeah.
53
00:06:52,445 --> 00:06:56,917
If I stood underneath
the central light in the room,
54
00:06:57,045 --> 00:06:59,560
I could tell if it was on or off.
55
00:07:04,925 --> 00:07:07,315
The stars had gone, the moon had gone.
56
00:07:09,365 --> 00:07:12,324
I must still be able to see the sun,
mustn't I?
57
00:07:14,925 --> 00:07:17,360
They didn't think it would last long.
58
00:07:21,525 --> 00:07:23,278
Here we are again.
59
00:07:23,405 --> 00:07:27,194
Another part of Imogen Hull's tape.
60
00:07:27,325 --> 00:07:30,124
Er, side two. Now, then...
61
00:07:30,245 --> 00:07:31,759
Imogen...
62
00:07:34,165 --> 00:07:35,724
She was thrilled, you know,
63
00:07:35,845 --> 00:07:38,724
as an older sister, having a little brother.
64
00:07:41,885 --> 00:07:44,798
I don't think she realised what was going on.
65
00:07:49,565 --> 00:07:52,683
The little drop of the Father
66
00:07:52,805 --> 00:07:54,876
on thy little beloved forehead.
67
00:07:58,765 --> 00:08:00,836
The little drop of the Son
68
00:08:01,805 --> 00:08:04,001
on your forehead, beloved one.
69
00:08:06,125 --> 00:08:10,596
A little drop of the Spirit
on your forehead, beloved one.
70
00:08:12,205 --> 00:08:15,755
There was nobody much around
in the university.
71
00:08:28,045 --> 00:08:30,355
I could hear one of my friends saying...
72
00:08:31,925 --> 00:08:35,043
"You know that John Hull's going
completely blind?"
73
00:08:39,805 --> 00:08:42,081
Stopping and hearing that.
74
00:08:42,205 --> 00:08:43,400
Ah!
75
00:08:48,445 --> 00:08:51,358
Thoughts just came tumbling into my mind.
76
00:08:54,645 --> 00:08:56,955
What about my reading? My research?
77
00:08:58,685 --> 00:09:01,245
What about my teaching?
78
00:09:01,365 --> 00:09:02,845
How am I going to teach?
79
00:09:02,965 --> 00:09:05,799
How am I going to lecture? Without any notes!
80
00:09:08,725 --> 00:09:11,479
I went up to my office and sat there.
81
00:09:12,805 --> 00:09:15,525
The students will be here
in about five weeks.
82
00:09:18,165 --> 00:09:19,804
Now...
83
00:09:21,445 --> 00:09:23,264
How am I going to do this?
84
00:09:25,485 --> 00:09:28,956
A social worker told me about
all the things they could offer.
85
00:09:29,085 --> 00:09:32,476
Mmm. Your first white cane.
86
00:09:34,325 --> 00:09:37,921
There were special holiday
homes for blind people.
87
00:09:38,045 --> 00:09:39,923
Maybe I'd like to have a dog and...
88
00:09:40,045 --> 00:09:43,038
And she said, "You need a mobility course."
89
00:09:43,165 --> 00:09:46,158
But I said, "No, I'm not doing that."
90
00:09:46,285 --> 00:09:48,083
I haven't got time!
91
00:09:49,445 --> 00:09:52,438
Most people would have made the time.
92
00:09:52,605 --> 00:09:55,598
I was just too busy
keeping up with everything.
93
00:09:56,605 --> 00:09:58,915
Well, you were also stubborn.
94
00:10:03,525 --> 00:10:06,359
You were, sort of, in furious denial.
95
00:10:11,325 --> 00:10:16,161
The only thing I was interested in
was how to function as a blind academic.
96
00:10:16,285 --> 00:10:17,605
That, nobody knew.
97
00:10:17,725 --> 00:10:19,205
We've got...
98
00:10:19,325 --> 00:10:20,805
The Long Surrender.
99
00:10:20,925 --> 00:10:23,156
Autumn Conquest.
100
00:10:23,285 --> 00:10:27,245
I needed to have serious
books recorded sensibly.
101
00:10:28,285 --> 00:10:32,518
Uh... What about anthropology and sociology?
102
00:10:33,565 --> 00:10:36,717
All that was basically available
in the United Kingdom
103
00:10:36,845 --> 00:10:39,565
was detective novels and romantic fiction.
104
00:10:41,565 --> 00:10:45,445
Well, I'm interested in reading
contemporary social sciences.
105
00:10:47,165 --> 00:10:48,315
No, look,
106
00:10:48,445 --> 00:10:50,880
how do blind people read big books?
107
00:10:51,965 --> 00:10:53,957
They said, "They don't."
108
00:10:57,485 --> 00:10:59,204
Anyway, um, I'll sort it out,
109
00:10:59,325 --> 00:11:01,237
so thanks for your advice.
110
00:11:01,365 --> 00:11:02,799
They don't.
111
00:11:06,245 --> 00:11:07,964
That was it.
112
00:11:12,845 --> 00:11:14,598
Now, I didn't buy that.
113
00:11:20,525 --> 00:11:22,676
I had a tape recorder, of course.
114
00:11:25,165 --> 00:11:26,565
I had cassettes.
115
00:11:29,325 --> 00:11:31,123
Is that the microphone? Yes.
116
00:11:32,285 --> 00:11:33,639
Is it on?
117
00:11:36,925 --> 00:11:39,121
That makes a difference, doesn't it?
118
00:11:41,365 --> 00:11:43,322
Testing, testing, testing...
119
00:11:44,405 --> 00:11:46,158
Today is Tuesday
120
00:11:46,285 --> 00:11:49,642
and I'm wondering if this machine
will record or not.
121
00:11:52,725 --> 00:11:55,160
Testing, testing...
122
00:11:55,285 --> 00:11:56,765
Today is Tuesday
123
00:11:56,885 --> 00:12:01,001
and I'm wondering if this machine
will record or not.
124
00:12:07,165 --> 00:12:10,317
The first thing I did
was build up a team of people
125
00:12:10,445 --> 00:12:12,516
to record books for me.
126
00:12:14,445 --> 00:12:16,835
How did you get that going?
127
00:12:16,965 --> 00:12:19,400
I can't quite remember,
128
00:12:19,525 --> 00:12:21,960
but it became an absolute business!
129
00:12:23,245 --> 00:12:26,079
I had up to 30 of them
working for me at one stage.
130
00:12:27,405 --> 00:12:29,840
The books would come back on cassettes.
131
00:12:31,165 --> 00:12:33,202
Hundred of cassettes.
132
00:12:34,405 --> 00:12:35,885
Hundreds!
133
00:12:37,765 --> 00:12:39,996
Yeah, that was transformative.
134
00:12:44,365 --> 00:12:46,800
Down on this level. One...
135
00:12:48,085 --> 00:12:49,599
Two...
136
00:12:49,725 --> 00:12:50,761
Three...
137
00:12:50,885 --> 00:12:54,037
I spent, I suppose,
the next two or three years
138
00:12:54,165 --> 00:12:56,361
learning all of those little tricks.
139
00:13:00,085 --> 00:13:02,839
With ingenuity and a little bit of help,
140
00:13:02,965 --> 00:13:05,685
there were problems that could be solved.
141
00:13:05,805 --> 00:13:09,321
Meaning is an operation
with intentionality...
142
00:13:11,725 --> 00:13:15,321
The truth is that although it was,
in a way, so devastating,
143
00:13:15,445 --> 00:13:17,084
I did enjoy it.
144
00:13:19,365 --> 00:13:21,721
I was entirely occupied.
145
00:13:26,765 --> 00:13:29,519
It wasn't until the final,
146
00:13:29,645 --> 00:13:32,035
tiny bit of light sensation
147
00:13:32,165 --> 00:13:34,361
slowly disappeared
148
00:13:34,485 --> 00:13:36,875
that my mood changed.
149
00:13:48,325 --> 00:13:51,397
Remember that day in Shrewsbury
150
00:13:51,525 --> 00:13:53,278
when I caught a glimpse of a...
151
00:13:54,645 --> 00:13:57,001
- Of a church spire?
- Yeah.
152
00:14:00,965 --> 00:14:03,924
I think that's the last thing you ever saw.
153
00:14:08,445 --> 00:14:10,516
That's probably true.
154
00:15:17,605 --> 00:15:18,721
Dad?
155
00:15:22,325 --> 00:15:23,759
Hey?
156
00:15:25,565 --> 00:15:26,999
I had a dream.
157
00:15:28,365 --> 00:15:29,799
You had a dream?
158
00:15:30,605 --> 00:15:32,005
I had a dream
159
00:15:32,125 --> 00:15:33,957
what I got some dinner,
160
00:15:34,085 --> 00:15:38,762
but it didn't have at all
very much nice stuff in it
161
00:15:38,885 --> 00:15:40,604
and I lost it again.
162
00:15:42,005 --> 00:15:43,598
Wow...
163
00:15:44,765 --> 00:15:48,202
- Was that the end?
- And you were in it.
164
00:15:48,325 --> 00:15:50,860
He's telling me about a dream he had.
165
00:15:55,965 --> 00:15:57,285
Now...
166
00:15:57,405 --> 00:16:00,364
it will be cloudy, um,
throughout the evening.
167
00:16:00,485 --> 00:16:01,805
Er...
168
00:16:01,925 --> 00:16:04,235
and a big patch of wind on the,
169
00:16:04,365 --> 00:16:06,197
um, satellite picture
170
00:16:06,325 --> 00:16:08,396
just coming over and lots of...
171
00:16:18,525 --> 00:16:19,800
What now?
172
00:16:21,045 --> 00:16:22,845
What next?
173
00:16:27,725 --> 00:16:30,081
I'd learnt how to lecture without notes.
174
00:16:32,485 --> 00:16:35,603
Learnt how to recognise
the students by their voices.
175
00:16:38,005 --> 00:16:41,521
The cassettes were pouring in faster
than I could read them.
176
00:16:42,565 --> 00:16:44,318
All of that was done.
177
00:16:49,645 --> 00:16:51,876
It was at that point
178
00:16:52,005 --> 00:16:53,155
I realised
179
00:16:55,205 --> 00:16:57,356
that I had to think about blindness
180
00:17:00,285 --> 00:17:03,164
because if I didn't understand it
181
00:17:06,525 --> 00:17:08,118
it would defeat me.
182
00:17:37,965 --> 00:17:40,799
This is cassette one, track one.
183
00:17:45,005 --> 00:17:47,236
Notes on Blindness
184
00:17:47,365 --> 00:17:52,156
and this is the 21st of June,
185
00:17:52,285 --> 00:17:54,163
1983.
186
00:18:08,325 --> 00:18:11,523
After nearly three years of blindness,
187
00:18:11,645 --> 00:18:15,036
I find that the pictures
188
00:18:15,165 --> 00:18:17,122
in the gallery of my mind
189
00:18:17,245 --> 00:18:19,555
have dimmed somewhat.
190
00:18:20,845 --> 00:18:23,679
People and places I know and love so well.
191
00:18:25,565 --> 00:18:29,605
Memories of my early life spent in Australia.
192
00:18:34,365 --> 00:18:37,403
So I found with great distress
193
00:18:37,525 --> 00:18:39,881
that I could no longer remember easily
194
00:18:40,005 --> 00:18:41,883
what my wife looked like.
195
00:18:43,885 --> 00:18:47,003
Or what my daughter, Imogen, looked like.
196
00:18:50,645 --> 00:18:54,002
I found that memories of photographs
197
00:18:54,125 --> 00:18:56,959
were more easily recaptured.
198
00:19:04,445 --> 00:19:06,596
In the case of my daughter, Imogen,
199
00:19:06,725 --> 00:19:09,923
I have a wide range
of visual memories of her.
200
00:19:20,205 --> 00:19:22,765
Of Thomas, now nearly three,
201
00:19:22,885 --> 00:19:24,956
I have a few very vague impressions
202
00:19:25,085 --> 00:19:28,203
based upon the first six or nine months
of his life
203
00:19:28,325 --> 00:19:30,715
before I lost sight altogether.
204
00:19:36,645 --> 00:19:38,921
And of Elizabeth,
205
00:19:39,045 --> 00:19:42,356
I have no visual memories at all
and never have had.
206
00:19:54,925 --> 00:19:56,518
Just a minute.
207
00:20:00,645 --> 00:20:02,841
I am concerned
208
00:20:04,525 --> 00:20:06,437
to understand blindness,
209
00:20:08,925 --> 00:20:10,757
to seek its meaning,
210
00:20:13,525 --> 00:20:17,041
to retain the fullness of my humanity.
211
00:20:31,925 --> 00:20:35,919
We need to know what kind of necessity is it.
212
00:20:36,045 --> 00:20:38,844
Is it a psychological necessity?
213
00:20:38,965 --> 00:20:40,479
Is it logical?
214
00:20:40,605 --> 00:20:42,995
Is it a historical necessity?
215
00:20:48,725 --> 00:20:50,478
A note on smiles.
216
00:20:52,045 --> 00:20:55,561
Nearly every time I smile,
I'm conscious of smiling.
217
00:20:56,925 --> 00:20:59,645
I mean, I'm conscious of the movement.
218
00:20:59,765 --> 00:21:02,644
Even, one might say, the effort of smiling.
219
00:21:05,085 --> 00:21:08,761
I think the reason is that
there is no returning smile.
220
00:21:10,365 --> 00:21:13,358
One never gets anything for one's own smiles.
221
00:21:15,325 --> 00:21:17,442
One is sending off dead letters.
222
00:21:19,125 --> 00:21:22,357
Consequently, I can feel myself
stopping smiling.
223
00:21:25,165 --> 00:21:27,077
Or I think I can.
224
00:21:27,205 --> 00:21:31,597
I must ask someone close to me
whether this is true or not.
225
00:21:52,725 --> 00:21:55,797
A note on Thomas' awareness of my blindness.
226
00:22:02,125 --> 00:22:05,323
He sadly wandered off into the mountains,
227
00:22:05,445 --> 00:22:08,961
knowing that he could never look into
the beautiful eyes
228
00:22:09,085 --> 00:22:10,758
of Rapunzel again.
229
00:22:10,885 --> 00:22:14,162
Thomas asked me, "Why was he blind?"
230
00:22:16,325 --> 00:22:18,635
"Because his eyes were poorly."
231
00:22:20,965 --> 00:22:22,285
"My eyes are poorly."
232
00:22:25,485 --> 00:22:29,081
He said to me in a very serious
and probing voice...
233
00:22:30,725 --> 00:22:32,284
"Are you blind?"
234
00:22:33,965 --> 00:22:35,399
"Yes, I am."
235
00:22:36,485 --> 00:22:38,238
"Your eyes are closed."
236
00:22:39,565 --> 00:22:42,876
"Yes, but even when I open my eyes,
I still can't see."
237
00:22:44,445 --> 00:22:46,482
"Can't you see the pictures?"
238
00:22:46,605 --> 00:22:49,120
"I can see the pictures."
239
00:22:49,245 --> 00:22:50,964
"Your eyes aren't poorly."
240
00:22:52,925 --> 00:22:55,963
I put my hand over his eyes
and held his eyes closed.
241
00:22:57,805 --> 00:22:59,762
"Now can you see?" I said.
242
00:22:59,885 --> 00:23:02,036
He said, "No."
243
00:23:02,165 --> 00:23:03,281
"Now?"
244
00:23:03,405 --> 00:23:05,124
"Yes, I can see now."
245
00:23:05,245 --> 00:23:06,998
"Yes, my eyes aren't poorly."
246
00:23:09,125 --> 00:23:12,436
I am reminded of being in Wales with Imogen,
247
00:23:12,565 --> 00:23:14,602
when she said to me...
248
00:23:16,005 --> 00:23:17,883
"Daddy,
249
00:23:18,005 --> 00:23:20,725
"if I cried and my tears fell on your eyes,
250
00:23:20,845 --> 00:23:22,962
"would you be able to see again?"
251
00:23:24,845 --> 00:23:27,917
This thought she had got, I'm sure,
from Rapunzel.
252
00:23:28,045 --> 00:23:31,322
And they lived happily ever after.
253
00:23:42,325 --> 00:23:45,238
Cassette two, track one.
254
00:23:45,365 --> 00:23:48,437
A strange experience with a faith healer.
255
00:23:51,205 --> 00:23:52,878
On Thursday evening,
256
00:23:53,005 --> 00:23:56,282
we stopped at the Indian restaurant
in Bristol Street.
257
00:23:56,405 --> 00:24:00,365
Isn't this a wonderful example
of what it's like to be a parent?
258
00:24:00,485 --> 00:24:04,274
I hope everything is to your satisfaction.
259
00:24:04,405 --> 00:24:05,839
May I?
260
00:24:05,965 --> 00:24:09,800
I took him to be a waiter
who worked in the restaurant.
261
00:24:10,805 --> 00:24:13,798
He asked me if I was completely blind,
262
00:24:15,645 --> 00:24:17,921
how long I had been blind,
263
00:24:18,045 --> 00:24:20,605
the cause of my blindness was.
264
00:24:20,725 --> 00:24:22,478
Well, um,
265
00:24:22,605 --> 00:24:24,517
in one way or another, I suppose,
266
00:24:24,645 --> 00:24:28,559
I've been fighting against blindness
most of my life.
267
00:24:29,525 --> 00:24:31,084
Please, go on...
268
00:24:31,205 --> 00:24:32,958
Er...
269
00:24:33,085 --> 00:24:34,599
when I was a child,
270
00:24:34,725 --> 00:24:37,718
I lost my sight for the first time.
271
00:24:37,845 --> 00:24:40,360
I've had all sorts of operations
272
00:24:40,485 --> 00:24:43,717
and gradually sight simply faded away.
273
00:24:45,805 --> 00:24:47,000
Why do you ask?
274
00:24:47,125 --> 00:24:49,276
And now you see nothing?
275
00:24:50,565 --> 00:24:51,760
Nothing.
276
00:24:51,885 --> 00:24:53,638
I don't see anything now.
277
00:24:53,765 --> 00:24:56,405
And, yet, you still wear glasses?
278
00:24:58,125 --> 00:25:00,162
Silly, really, isn't it?
279
00:25:00,285 --> 00:25:03,084
I'd feel rather undressed without my glasses.
280
00:25:05,285 --> 00:25:09,279
Tell me, do you still hope
that you will see again?
281
00:25:09,405 --> 00:25:11,795
No, I don't hold out hope.
282
00:25:11,925 --> 00:25:14,724
The doctors have told me
it's quite impossible.
283
00:25:16,165 --> 00:25:17,838
And you believe them?
284
00:25:19,605 --> 00:25:24,634
He told me about some of the
marvellous cures he'd done, even cancer.
285
00:25:24,765 --> 00:25:27,519
My sight is dependent on my will
286
00:25:27,645 --> 00:25:30,080
and he, through hypnotherapy,
287
00:25:30,205 --> 00:25:31,958
could help to restore my will.
288
00:25:33,605 --> 00:25:35,119
I see.
289
00:25:36,325 --> 00:25:39,443
Could you restore a leg lost
in a traffic accident?
290
00:25:40,525 --> 00:25:43,165
You have no eyes? Are they gone?
291
00:25:49,725 --> 00:25:51,921
It's just a mass of jelly.
292
00:25:54,525 --> 00:25:56,721
Willpower cannot restore it.
293
00:25:59,805 --> 00:26:01,762
He was speechless!
294
00:26:01,885 --> 00:26:04,161
He was absolutely speechless!
295
00:26:04,285 --> 00:26:07,039
But, John, do you think it's got to the point
296
00:26:07,165 --> 00:26:10,283
where you don't really want to
get your sight back?
297
00:26:10,405 --> 00:26:12,522
What makes you say that?
298
00:26:12,645 --> 00:26:15,035
Well, you always seem to be so happy.
299
00:26:15,165 --> 00:26:17,441
You seem to be functioning so well.
300
00:26:20,365 --> 00:26:21,799
Oh, Liz.
301
00:26:22,765 --> 00:26:24,882
If only you knew half the truth.
302
00:26:26,645 --> 00:26:28,682
Of course I want my sight back.
303
00:26:30,085 --> 00:26:31,724
I will never accept
304
00:26:33,125 --> 00:26:35,037
the human losses of blindness.
305
00:26:56,565 --> 00:26:58,841
Every time I wake up,
306
00:26:58,965 --> 00:27:00,957
I lose my sight.
307
00:27:06,645 --> 00:27:09,638
Last night, I dreamt that my sight improved.
308
00:27:12,685 --> 00:27:16,759
I had the most intense picture of Thomas
309
00:27:16,885 --> 00:27:19,764
as a cuddly, little boy.
310
00:27:21,845 --> 00:27:24,155
In my dream I said to myself,
311
00:27:24,285 --> 00:27:26,083
"There you are, you see.
312
00:27:26,205 --> 00:27:29,915
"In good light, you can still manage
fairly well."
313
00:27:38,125 --> 00:27:42,085
My waking reflection is that my dreaming life
314
00:27:42,205 --> 00:27:43,958
is still denying the reality.
315
00:27:47,965 --> 00:27:50,525
...heavy swell breaking onto the rocks.
316
00:27:50,645 --> 00:27:52,204
Five were swept into the sea,
317
00:27:52,325 --> 00:27:54,681
three from one group, and two from another.
318
00:27:54,805 --> 00:27:58,560
Sennen and Penlee lifeboats
were called to search as dusk gathered.
319
00:27:58,685 --> 00:28:02,838
The Royal Navy helicopter from Culdrose
flew back and forth across the sea.
320
00:28:10,765 --> 00:28:12,836
That's page 104.
321
00:28:12,965 --> 00:28:16,356
My comments... this text
is an interesting example in the Bible
322
00:28:16,485 --> 00:28:19,444
of the limitations of a theology of vision.
323
00:28:21,925 --> 00:28:23,962
Give us an H.
324
00:28:24,085 --> 00:28:25,439
Give us an A.
325
00:28:25,565 --> 00:28:26,999
Give us a P.
326
00:28:27,125 --> 00:28:28,605
Give us another P.
327
00:28:28,725 --> 00:28:30,125
Give us a Y...
328
00:28:30,245 --> 00:28:32,314
Happy Xmas!
329
00:28:32,645 --> 00:28:34,723
Because now it's party time!
330
00:28:40,245 --> 00:28:41,599
Immy!
331
00:28:42,765 --> 00:28:44,784
Come here for a minute!
332
00:28:47,845 --> 00:28:50,917
'Ello, 'ello, 'ello, look what I found!
333
00:28:51,045 --> 00:28:52,843
Another one of these.
334
00:28:54,045 --> 00:28:56,276
What's this, Tom?
335
00:28:56,405 --> 00:28:57,885
Oh, I know what this is.
336
00:28:58,005 --> 00:28:59,280
What?
337
00:28:59,405 --> 00:29:01,874
When you hold it in the light,
338
00:29:02,005 --> 00:29:05,760
you can see all the colours
really brightly. It's beautiful, look.
339
00:29:05,885 --> 00:29:07,399
Oh, that's nice!
340
00:29:09,605 --> 00:29:13,679
What I remember about you
most vividly in those years
341
00:29:13,805 --> 00:29:15,922
was your amazing practicality.
342
00:29:17,165 --> 00:29:19,600
You never expressed regrets.
343
00:29:19,725 --> 00:29:21,956
You just got on with the next thing,
344
00:29:22,085 --> 00:29:23,883
step by step.
345
00:29:25,685 --> 00:29:29,395
The way you did that,
I always thought was quite incredible.
346
00:29:31,405 --> 00:29:34,557
Dedicated To The One I Love
by The Mamas & The Papas
347
00:29:34,685 --> 00:29:37,644
# While I'm far away from you, my baby. #
348
00:29:37,765 --> 00:29:41,441
Would you take Imagine by John Lennon?
An obvious choice.
349
00:29:41,565 --> 00:29:44,319
No. Dylan, you'd surely want to take Dylan?
350
00:29:44,445 --> 00:29:48,405
Well, I know, but there
one is completely stuck.
351
00:29:48,525 --> 00:29:50,994
I know what you'd take
and what we'd both take!
352
00:29:51,125 --> 00:29:53,276
- What?
- Jacqueline Du Pre
353
00:29:53,405 --> 00:29:56,443
- playing Elgar's Cello... whatsit?
- Yes!
354
00:29:56,565 --> 00:29:59,444
- There you are.
- I think we've got one.
355
00:30:01,685 --> 00:30:07,522
# Each night before you go to bed, my baby
356
00:30:08,525 --> 00:30:14,442
# Whisper a little prayer for me, my baby
357
00:30:15,365 --> 00:30:21,157
# And tell all the stars above
358
00:30:22,045 --> 00:30:24,560
# This is dedicated to the one I...
359
00:30:24,685 --> 00:30:25,675
# Love...
360
00:30:25,805 --> 00:30:31,517
# Can never be exactly like we want it to be
361
00:30:31,645 --> 00:30:38,231
# Love can never be
exactly like we want it to be... #
362
00:30:38,365 --> 00:30:41,199
# Love can never be... #
363
00:31:30,965 --> 00:31:34,276
A huge wave crashed down, separating us all.
364
00:31:37,805 --> 00:31:42,755
There was a debris of
floating merchandise and dead bodies.
365
00:31:44,885 --> 00:31:49,004
I searched for them everywhere
in despair and found nothing.
366
00:31:53,125 --> 00:31:56,482
It was hopeless, they'd simply disappeared.
367
00:32:21,445 --> 00:32:23,880
Somebody had reminded me
368
00:32:24,005 --> 00:32:26,964
that part of the human brain
369
00:32:27,085 --> 00:32:29,759
specialises in the reception
370
00:32:29,885 --> 00:32:33,117
and processing of visual material.
371
00:32:37,765 --> 00:32:41,759
Now I would like to know what happens
to that part of the brain
372
00:32:41,885 --> 00:32:44,445
when optic stimulation ceases.
373
00:32:48,685 --> 00:32:52,361
Could this perhaps account
for the sense of suffering
374
00:32:52,485 --> 00:32:55,398
I have experienced over the past year or two?
375
00:32:59,765 --> 00:33:04,999
The feeling I am describing
is a sense of hunger, of aridity.
376
00:33:09,845 --> 00:33:14,840
A feeling that one's brain longs for
optic stimulation,
377
00:33:14,965 --> 00:33:17,799
as the body longs for food.
378
00:33:22,685 --> 00:33:26,804
The brain itself thirsts for that
to which it is accustomed.
379
00:33:33,325 --> 00:33:35,840
Part of my brain is dying.
380
00:33:43,325 --> 00:33:45,635
Say Merry Christmas to Mummy.
381
00:33:45,765 --> 00:33:47,916
Merry Christmas, Mummy!
382
00:33:48,045 --> 00:33:52,597
Merry Christmas, sweetheart.
Let's have a Christmas kiss.
383
00:33:52,725 --> 00:33:55,957
What's that? My word!
384
00:33:56,085 --> 00:33:58,122
What is it, Tom?
385
00:34:00,365 --> 00:34:02,038
What is this?
386
00:34:02,165 --> 00:34:05,715
- A mouth organ.
- Good Lord!
387
00:34:05,845 --> 00:34:08,883
That particular Christmas was the worst.
388
00:34:09,005 --> 00:34:12,999
- Dad, look at these.
- What is it?
389
00:34:13,125 --> 00:34:14,115
What is it?
390
00:34:14,245 --> 00:34:17,682
I don't know.
I think it's probably bubble bath.
391
00:34:17,805 --> 00:34:20,479
Father Christmas must have smelt you
392
00:34:20,605 --> 00:34:22,995
all the way from the North Pole.
393
00:34:24,125 --> 00:34:26,003
I was stuck.
394
00:34:27,645 --> 00:34:29,876
You know, I couldn't get up and leave.
395
00:34:31,365 --> 00:34:33,482
How could I walk out on Christmas Day?
396
00:34:34,725 --> 00:34:36,876
- No...
- You know?
397
00:34:37,005 --> 00:34:39,201
But I couldn't stay, either.
398
00:34:39,325 --> 00:34:42,443
Wait for me. How do I look in these?
399
00:34:42,565 --> 00:34:46,400
You look terrific!
Did Father Christmas leave those?
400
00:34:46,525 --> 00:34:48,482
- Are they comfy?
- Yeah.
401
00:34:48,605 --> 00:34:50,244
Are they warm?
402
00:34:50,365 --> 00:34:52,834
- Yeah.
- Are they?
403
00:34:52,965 --> 00:34:55,639
What colour are they?
404
00:34:55,765 --> 00:34:58,075
Ever so nice, aren't they?
405
00:34:58,205 --> 00:35:00,083
Are they a good fit?
406
00:35:00,205 --> 00:35:03,277
Special winter slippers.
407
00:35:03,405 --> 00:35:05,556
Go and look at yourself in the mirror.
408
00:35:20,205 --> 00:35:22,674
That was when you came up to me and said,
409
00:35:22,805 --> 00:35:25,877
"You look dreadful.
Why don't you go into the office?"
410
00:35:28,565 --> 00:35:31,125
Just go to work.
411
00:35:31,245 --> 00:35:33,476
Just go.
412
00:36:07,365 --> 00:36:10,802
I had a desperate feeling of being enclosed.
413
00:36:11,965 --> 00:36:14,560
Having to get out. I must get out.
414
00:36:19,485 --> 00:36:21,920
I had only gone about a hundred yards
415
00:36:22,045 --> 00:36:27,200
when I was aware of a growing feeling
of doubt and uncertainty.
416
00:36:32,245 --> 00:36:34,680
I was intensely aware of the fact
417
00:36:34,805 --> 00:36:37,036
that I was going through nothing.
418
00:36:39,365 --> 00:36:41,641
Through an intensely cold nothing.
419
00:36:43,165 --> 00:36:45,122
Of going nowhere.
420
00:36:46,325 --> 00:36:48,123
Of being entirely alone.
421
00:36:55,885 --> 00:36:59,037
I turned around and walked back to the house.
422
00:37:01,765 --> 00:37:03,802
Away In A Manger
423
00:37:14,405 --> 00:37:16,715
I felt as if I was banging my head,
424
00:37:16,845 --> 00:37:19,644
my whole body, against the wall of blindness.
425
00:37:22,485 --> 00:37:25,159
A desperate need to break through
this curtain,
426
00:37:25,285 --> 00:37:28,323
this veil which was surrounding me,
427
00:37:28,445 --> 00:37:31,756
to come out into the world
of light out there.
428
00:37:42,885 --> 00:37:45,320
How could this happen to me?
429
00:37:47,285 --> 00:37:49,561
Who could ask me to go through this?
430
00:37:51,765 --> 00:37:56,360
Who had the right to deprive me of the
sight of my children at Christmas time?
431
00:38:02,685 --> 00:38:05,803
The image that often haunted me
432
00:38:05,925 --> 00:38:08,645
during the early days of my blindness
433
00:38:08,765 --> 00:38:11,234
came back to me with such force.
434
00:38:12,645 --> 00:38:16,434
I was in a little coal truck in a mineshaft,
435
00:38:16,565 --> 00:38:19,763
being trundled deeper and deeper
into the mine.
436
00:38:23,285 --> 00:38:25,436
Were we just out of control?
437
00:38:25,565 --> 00:38:28,034
Was there nobody in a position to stop it?
438
00:38:28,165 --> 00:38:30,077
Would it just go on and on?
439
00:38:30,205 --> 00:38:33,039
I had to get out, I had to jump out,
I had to run back.
440
00:38:33,165 --> 00:38:34,565
But, no,
441
00:38:34,685 --> 00:38:38,759
it remorselessly carried me in deeper
and deeper and deeper.
442
00:39:04,725 --> 00:39:08,685
I think this idea of you
going away into another world
443
00:39:08,805 --> 00:39:11,240
where I couldn't be was...
444
00:39:11,365 --> 00:39:13,243
That was awful, that was...
445
00:39:21,965 --> 00:39:25,720
Shall I scratch my eyes out?
Shall I come with you into this world?
446
00:39:30,325 --> 00:39:34,604
I somehow feel
that if I were to accept this thing
447
00:39:34,725 --> 00:39:38,162
if I were to enter into acquiescence,
448
00:39:38,285 --> 00:39:40,083
then I would die...
449
00:39:43,965 --> 00:39:47,276
because it would be as if my ability
to resist,
450
00:39:47,405 --> 00:39:49,801
my will to resist, were broken.
451
00:39:56,885 --> 00:40:01,676
On the other hand,
not to accept seems futile,
452
00:40:01,805 --> 00:40:05,435
because what one is refusing to accept
453
00:40:05,565 --> 00:40:07,204
is a fact.
454
00:40:12,645 --> 00:40:15,717
And now what I have to face is
455
00:40:17,605 --> 00:40:19,995
the thought that there is no escape.
456
00:40:21,765 --> 00:40:24,280
The thought that I shall now just go on
457
00:40:25,525 --> 00:40:28,836
with another 20,
30 or even more years of this.
458
00:40:54,805 --> 00:40:58,355
One fights back by adopting tiny techniques.
459
00:41:00,885 --> 00:41:02,877
Familiarity, predictability,
460
00:41:03,005 --> 00:41:06,476
the same objects,
the same little movements of the hand.
461
00:41:10,165 --> 00:41:13,317
One has to establish
some kind of environment,
462
00:41:13,445 --> 00:41:16,438
a study, a room, a route, a passage,
463
00:41:16,565 --> 00:41:19,763
over which one can establish
some kind of territory.
464
00:41:25,205 --> 00:41:27,197
I am not particularly conscious
465
00:41:27,325 --> 00:41:29,317
of being blind while I'm at work.
466
00:41:30,485 --> 00:41:33,842
When I'm at work, all my students
have to come into my world
467
00:41:33,965 --> 00:41:36,241
of ideas and concepts and language.
468
00:41:37,005 --> 00:41:41,397
OK, let's start with the very
oldest or most ancient of these.
469
00:41:41,525 --> 00:41:44,836
That's the very first conflict, faith.
470
00:41:44,965 --> 00:41:47,844
The essence of the thing is planning,
471
00:41:47,965 --> 00:41:51,639
initiatives, and active participation.
472
00:41:52,245 --> 00:41:55,716
The moment
I sink into passivity and irrelevance...
473
00:41:55,845 --> 00:41:58,025
then I'm done for.
474
00:42:00,765 --> 00:42:03,803
Tomorrow it'll be reasonably sunny,
475
00:42:03,925 --> 00:42:07,362
reasonably cold, reasonably hot,
reasonably everything.
476
00:42:07,485 --> 00:42:09,716
In fact, I don't know at all!
477
00:42:09,845 --> 00:42:11,962
And that is the end of the news.
478
00:42:12,085 --> 00:42:13,883
Dong! Dong! Dong!
479
00:42:38,525 --> 00:42:42,814
A note on the experience
of hearing rain falling.
480
00:42:47,445 --> 00:42:51,758
This evening, I came out the front door
of the house and it was raining.
481
00:42:55,765 --> 00:42:59,042
I stood for a few minutes,
lost in the beauty of it.
482
00:43:01,765 --> 00:43:04,837
Rain brings out the contours
483
00:43:04,965 --> 00:43:07,480
of what's around you...
484
00:43:09,485 --> 00:43:13,365
in that it introduces a blanket
485
00:43:13,485 --> 00:43:17,877
of differentiated and specialised sound...
486
00:43:20,285 --> 00:43:23,596
which fills the whole
of the audible environment.
487
00:43:49,405 --> 00:43:53,558
If only there could be something
equivalent to rain falling inside.
488
00:43:56,525 --> 00:44:01,316
Then the whole of a room would take on
shape and dimension...
489
00:44:05,765 --> 00:44:08,997
instead of being isolated, cut off,
490
00:44:09,125 --> 00:44:11,765
pre-occupied internally.
491
00:44:13,125 --> 00:44:15,162
You're presented with a world.
492
00:44:18,765 --> 00:44:21,678
You are related to a world.
493
00:44:21,805 --> 00:44:24,081
You are addressed by a world.
494
00:44:30,645 --> 00:44:34,798
Why should this experience
strike one as being beautiful?
495
00:44:37,085 --> 00:44:38,997
Cognition is beautiful.
496
00:44:40,045 --> 00:44:42,082
It is beautiful to know.
497
00:44:50,885 --> 00:44:53,241
Well, I must thank you again
498
00:44:53,365 --> 00:44:54,640
for your tape,
499
00:44:54,765 --> 00:44:56,484
from all of you.
500
00:44:56,605 --> 00:44:59,074
From you, Thomas, and Lizzie,
501
00:44:59,205 --> 00:45:00,719
and Imogen, too.
502
00:45:00,845 --> 00:45:04,122
How are you getting along?
We'd love to see you sometime.
503
00:45:05,165 --> 00:45:07,999
We don't realise how the time passes.
504
00:45:09,365 --> 00:45:11,038
Anyhow, thank you again.
505
00:45:11,165 --> 00:45:14,636
I hope you'll have the time
to come out here to see us.
506
00:45:20,805 --> 00:45:23,240
Hello, Grandpa and Grandma,
507
00:45:23,365 --> 00:45:26,142
I hope you're fine,
cos we're having a wonderful time here.
508
00:45:26,265 --> 00:45:29,644
Do send love to all the other relatives
in Australia.
509
00:45:32,525 --> 00:45:35,677
Now, it's time for the morning concert.
510
00:45:38,525 --> 00:45:43,442
# Sparkle, evening star, I see you there
511
00:45:44,745 --> 00:45:49,795
# High above our land, you sit and stare
512
00:45:50,725 --> 00:45:53,399
# Star bright
513
00:45:53,525 --> 00:45:56,040
# Gleaming white
514
00:45:56,205 --> 00:46:02,202
# I wonder if you hear my song tonight. #
515
00:46:05,045 --> 00:46:06,161
Beautiful.
516
00:46:06,285 --> 00:46:09,164
That was good, Immy, worked quite well.
517
00:46:12,845 --> 00:46:15,644
I've got one of them!
518
00:46:15,765 --> 00:46:17,279
Beautiful.
519
00:46:17,405 --> 00:46:20,682
That was good, Immy, worked quite well.
520
00:46:23,685 --> 00:46:25,244
Well, Mum and Dad,
521
00:46:25,365 --> 00:46:29,279
I hope you enjoy that as an authentic
bit of children's production!
522
00:46:31,205 --> 00:46:33,436
I should perhaps also add
523
00:46:33,565 --> 00:46:36,160
we will not be able to come to Australia...
524
00:46:38,525 --> 00:46:42,804
because I do feel that the lack of
mobility and of activity
525
00:46:44,525 --> 00:46:47,563
would be difficult for me to put up with.
526
00:46:53,765 --> 00:46:55,802
I'm sure you'll understand that.
527
00:47:01,245 --> 00:47:03,123
Mummy!
528
00:47:04,965 --> 00:47:07,764
Well, I must stop now
and get this off to you.
529
00:47:07,885 --> 00:47:10,719
Lots of love to all of you, from all
of us. Bye now.
530
00:47:25,525 --> 00:47:27,596
Read on.
531
00:47:28,885 --> 00:47:31,081
"The grass and the plants
532
00:47:31,205 --> 00:47:33,436
"and it was..."
533
00:47:33,565 --> 00:47:36,034
What does that little sign mean?
534
00:47:36,165 --> 00:47:38,396
Do it again on my hand.
535
00:47:38,525 --> 00:47:39,845
It's going...
536
00:47:41,005 --> 00:47:42,075
with a...
537
00:47:42,205 --> 00:47:43,798
Like this?
538
00:47:44,965 --> 00:47:46,240
Yeah.
539
00:47:47,405 --> 00:47:48,680
It's a comma.
540
00:47:48,805 --> 00:47:51,365
- What does that mean?
- A pause.
541
00:47:51,485 --> 00:47:54,080
- Oh.
- Where does it have it?
542
00:47:55,685 --> 00:47:58,120
One night, putting Thomas to bed,
543
00:47:58,245 --> 00:48:00,919
I had a long and detailed discussion with him
544
00:48:01,045 --> 00:48:02,764
about my blindness.
545
00:48:04,085 --> 00:48:06,361
"Will you always be blind?" he said.
546
00:48:07,485 --> 00:48:09,238
"Yes, always."
547
00:48:10,645 --> 00:48:12,876
"Couldn't the doctors stop it?"
548
00:48:13,925 --> 00:48:15,917
"The doctors tried."
549
00:48:17,445 --> 00:48:19,562
I explained about the retina,
550
00:48:19,685 --> 00:48:23,474
how it sometimes tears and comes
off from the back of the eye.
551
00:48:25,445 --> 00:48:27,437
"What did they say?"
552
00:48:28,445 --> 00:48:32,598
"Well, they just said, "Sorry, Mr Hull,
we can't do any more for you.""
553
00:48:35,645 --> 00:48:37,443
"Why doesn't God help you?"
554
00:48:38,965 --> 00:48:40,922
"God does help me,
555
00:48:41,045 --> 00:48:42,479
"in lots of ways."
556
00:48:43,725 --> 00:48:45,045
"How?"
557
00:48:46,205 --> 00:48:49,004
"Well, he makes me strong
and gives me courage."
558
00:48:50,725 --> 00:48:53,559
"But he doesn't help you to get
your eyes back?"
559
00:48:55,965 --> 00:48:57,524
Our, Father
560
00:48:57,645 --> 00:48:58,874
Who art in heaven
561
00:48:59,005 --> 00:49:01,076
Hallowed be Thy name
562
00:49:01,205 --> 00:49:02,605
Your kingdom come
563
00:49:02,725 --> 00:49:04,239
Thy will be done
564
00:49:04,365 --> 00:49:06,516
On earth as it is in heaven.
565
00:49:06,645 --> 00:49:08,841
Give us this day our daily bread.
566
00:49:09,885 --> 00:49:14,118
Yes, there have been times
when I have been angry with God.
567
00:49:16,525 --> 00:49:18,835
Unreasonably so, I suppose.
568
00:49:22,725 --> 00:49:25,604
Sometimes one's emotions spill over.
569
00:49:28,445 --> 00:49:30,721
But I don't regard faith as a sort of a...
570
00:49:32,205 --> 00:49:35,994
a shield against the ordinary ups
and downs of human life.
571
00:49:39,045 --> 00:49:41,241
Why shouldn't it happen to me?
572
00:49:47,725 --> 00:49:50,081
So now at last we've come to this...
573
00:49:51,565 --> 00:49:53,602
great problem, this question.
574
00:49:56,205 --> 00:49:58,800
The problem of mutual understanding.
575
00:50:00,805 --> 00:50:04,515
How can blind and sighted people
truly understand each other?
576
00:50:06,045 --> 00:50:08,560
How can men understand women?
577
00:50:08,685 --> 00:50:12,235
How can the rich understand the poor?
578
00:50:12,365 --> 00:50:15,961
How can the old understand the young?
579
00:50:17,765 --> 00:50:20,439
Can we have insight into other people?
580
00:50:22,285 --> 00:50:27,838
This is the great question upon which
the unity of our humanity hangs.
581
00:50:40,445 --> 00:50:44,724
The last two days have been
particularly peaceful and happy.
582
00:50:46,725 --> 00:50:49,035
Two long days with Marilyn
583
00:50:49,165 --> 00:50:53,079
and it was one of the best times
I've had playing with the children.
584
00:50:53,205 --> 00:50:54,958
Up a tree!
585
00:50:55,085 --> 00:50:56,599
Yes, Thomas, wow!
586
00:50:56,725 --> 00:50:58,637
Don't go falling off, will you?
587
00:50:59,525 --> 00:51:03,439
My health is very much
better than it was at Christmas time.
588
00:51:15,645 --> 00:51:18,683
Perhaps blindness won't cut me off,
after all.
589
00:51:31,365 --> 00:51:35,996
Was I going to live in reality
or live in nostalgia?
590
00:51:39,165 --> 00:51:42,158
Over a period of weeks, months maybe,
591
00:51:42,285 --> 00:51:45,005
the decision hardened in me.
592
00:51:47,005 --> 00:51:49,964
I would not live in nostalgia,
593
00:51:50,085 --> 00:51:52,554
but would live in reality.
594
00:51:54,525 --> 00:51:56,403
And would become blind.
595
00:52:23,365 --> 00:52:25,004
Wow! Look at this.
596
00:52:25,125 --> 00:52:26,923
It's a really long drop.
597
00:52:27,045 --> 00:52:28,684
Yeah.
598
00:52:28,805 --> 00:52:31,479
What's that bit in the middle? Is that...
599
00:52:34,965 --> 00:52:38,037
- Are you all right, darling?
- Yeah.
600
00:53:14,885 --> 00:53:18,435
I wanted my parents to know
me as a blind person.
601
00:53:21,445 --> 00:53:24,358
I wanted them to somehow recognise me.
602
00:53:25,285 --> 00:53:26,639
And accept me.
603
00:53:29,125 --> 00:53:31,959
Every year we used
to go and pick cherry plums
604
00:53:32,085 --> 00:53:33,314
and bring them home.
605
00:53:33,445 --> 00:53:36,005
Mother made cherry plum jam by the dozen.
606
00:53:37,485 --> 00:53:40,000
I can remember rows and rows of the jam.
607
00:53:43,845 --> 00:53:47,555
- Say, "Hello, Grandma."
- Hello, Grandma.
608
00:53:47,685 --> 00:53:51,440
Of course, they were delighted
with the children,
609
00:53:51,565 --> 00:53:53,602
but I think they were shocked.
610
00:53:55,725 --> 00:53:58,240
Absolutely scandalised!
611
00:53:59,285 --> 00:54:01,481
It was like
612
00:54:01,605 --> 00:54:04,677
having to get to know me all over again.
613
00:54:07,845 --> 00:54:10,679
- It's a nice photo, that.
- Yes.
614
00:54:12,285 --> 00:54:16,962
Here we have a photo of us all sitting
up in this car out in our back yard.
615
00:54:17,085 --> 00:54:18,804
That's right.
616
00:54:21,165 --> 00:54:25,159
Well, how strangely
coloured photographs fade.
617
00:54:31,245 --> 00:54:34,955
It's all laid out like a professional poet.
618
00:54:36,485 --> 00:54:38,761
"Poems, to my mother."
619
00:54:38,885 --> 00:54:41,036
Oh, to my mother...
620
00:54:41,165 --> 00:54:43,361
Not to my mother and father.
621
00:54:43,485 --> 00:54:45,954
- Interesting.
- To my mother.
622
00:54:49,565 --> 00:54:52,683
I never had a close relationship
with my father.
623
00:54:56,205 --> 00:54:59,004
I don't know what he thought of it all.
624
00:55:01,245 --> 00:55:03,840
I walked down to the shops with him.
625
00:55:06,725 --> 00:55:09,115
We went to buy some bread and butter.
626
00:55:10,925 --> 00:55:14,043
It was the first time I'd touched him
on that visit...
627
00:55:16,685 --> 00:55:19,245
and I was shocked at how fragile he was.
628
00:55:21,365 --> 00:55:23,800
How slowly he moved along.
629
00:55:28,365 --> 00:55:31,085
And as we went along,
630
00:55:31,205 --> 00:55:34,084
he with his blind son on his elbow,
631
00:55:36,845 --> 00:55:39,201
I wondered what was going on in his mind,
632
00:55:39,325 --> 00:55:41,044
but we didn't talk about it.
633
00:55:44,045 --> 00:55:46,162
I wish I had known.
634
00:55:46,285 --> 00:55:48,038
I wish I did know.
635
00:56:13,565 --> 00:56:16,239
# Da-da-da-de-duh! #
636
00:56:18,525 --> 00:56:19,720
Even Grandpa!
637
00:56:19,845 --> 00:56:21,359
Whoo!
638
00:56:22,485 --> 00:56:24,556
Go, Grandpa!
639
00:56:35,325 --> 00:56:37,885
Strange thing, John, wasn't it?
640
00:56:38,005 --> 00:56:40,156
That Dad came from England
641
00:56:40,285 --> 00:56:42,561
and married an Australian girl.
642
00:56:42,685 --> 00:56:45,723
You were born in Australia
and married an English girl!
643
00:56:45,845 --> 00:56:48,314
Yes, it is strange.
644
00:56:51,445 --> 00:56:53,641
He's a good father, though.
645
00:56:57,765 --> 00:57:00,200
I remember, she sitting next to me,
646
00:57:00,325 --> 00:57:02,362
cuddling up quite close.
647
00:57:02,485 --> 00:57:05,239
"John," she said,
"I have to come up close to you now
648
00:57:05,365 --> 00:57:08,836
"because there's no other way
we can get in contact, is there?"
649
00:57:10,085 --> 00:57:13,283
I said, "Yes, Mother, but that's all right."
650
00:57:22,125 --> 00:57:24,799
Dear old Mother,
651
00:57:24,925 --> 00:57:26,723
what's it like for you?
652
00:57:34,725 --> 00:57:36,398
Lizzie?!
653
00:57:42,805 --> 00:57:44,034
Hang on!
654
00:57:55,525 --> 00:57:57,357
It's all right!
655
00:57:59,965 --> 00:58:01,001
Is she hurt?
656
00:58:01,125 --> 00:58:03,560
It was awful, wasn't it? Oh, dear.
657
00:58:03,685 --> 00:58:05,165
What's happened?
658
00:58:05,285 --> 00:58:08,198
She shut her finger in the door.
659
00:58:08,325 --> 00:58:10,999
I remember taking her little hand.
660
00:58:19,285 --> 00:58:21,845
Painful for the child,
but no harm done really.
661
00:58:21,965 --> 00:58:23,240
Good girl.
662
00:58:23,365 --> 00:58:26,324
Try to stretch out your fingers a little bit.
663
00:58:26,445 --> 00:58:27,925
It'll be fine, love.
664
00:58:29,165 --> 00:58:31,441
That was a frightening moment.
665
00:58:34,205 --> 00:58:37,835
The discovery that you re useless
is not a nice discovery...
666
00:58:39,565 --> 00:58:42,034
for any father to make.
667
00:58:48,965 --> 00:58:51,036
- You all right?
- Yeah.
668
00:58:56,925 --> 00:58:58,678
You just look a bit...
669
00:58:59,645 --> 00:59:01,045
Do you want some water?
670
00:59:01,165 --> 00:59:02,838
No, I'm all right.
671
00:59:02,965 --> 00:59:04,604
Good.
672
01:00:13,365 --> 01:00:17,041
- When will it come?
- When will what come?
673
01:00:17,165 --> 01:00:18,804
Speaking bit.
674
01:00:18,925 --> 01:00:21,997
It doesn't speak, darling, not like a phone.
675
01:00:22,125 --> 01:00:25,596
- Can't hear you.
- Do you know what it is?
676
01:00:25,725 --> 01:00:29,435
A tape recorder.
You see that going round inside there?
677
01:00:29,565 --> 01:00:32,319
It's making little records
678
01:00:32,445 --> 01:00:34,835
and your voice and my voice are on it.
679
01:00:34,965 --> 01:00:38,800
- Say, "Hello, hello, hello."
- Hello, hello, hello.
680
01:01:31,485 --> 01:01:34,762
I knew that this was
the first time I'd seen her.
681
01:01:37,125 --> 01:01:39,685
I stared at her, full of wonder,
682
01:01:41,325 --> 01:01:43,635
taking in every detail of her face.
683
01:01:48,045 --> 01:01:50,844
I thought, "So this is her.
684
01:01:50,965 --> 01:01:52,399
"This is she.
685
01:01:55,565 --> 01:01:58,637
"These are those lovely, luminous brown eyes.
686
01:01:59,805 --> 01:02:02,798
"This is that smile that they all
talk about."
687
01:02:13,845 --> 01:02:15,802
Everything went black again.
688
01:02:19,805 --> 01:02:22,003
I was back in consciousness.
689
01:02:24,925 --> 01:02:26,723
And in blindness.
690
01:02:28,205 --> 01:02:30,242
And I realised with a shock
691
01:02:32,165 --> 01:02:34,077
that it had been a dream.
692
01:02:39,575 --> 01:02:43,009
I've got sick of recording this one
so I've stopped.
693
01:03:19,885 --> 01:03:21,399
When I was last here,
694
01:03:22,245 --> 01:03:24,635
many of my best remembered places
695
01:03:26,485 --> 01:03:27,885
were already fading.
696
01:03:38,565 --> 01:03:39,885
Somehow...
697
01:03:41,645 --> 01:03:44,638
I expected Melbourne to be there.
698
01:03:49,165 --> 01:03:50,804
That's stupid, isn't it?
699
01:03:55,565 --> 01:03:56,794
Just move in.
700
01:03:57,525 --> 01:03:58,959
Just move in.
701
01:04:03,245 --> 01:04:05,396
You want to take your kids and say,
702
01:04:05,525 --> 01:04:07,960
"This is the beach we used to come to.
703
01:04:13,445 --> 01:04:16,165
"That's the place
where we used to play footie.
704
01:04:19,965 --> 01:04:21,604
"This is the school I went to."
705
01:04:26,325 --> 01:04:28,442
But... there was nothing there.
706
01:04:31,605 --> 01:04:33,722
Just people's hands and voices.
707
01:04:36,765 --> 01:04:38,757
Feel of the car on the road.
708
01:04:41,045 --> 01:04:42,638
The wind, of course.
709
01:04:43,605 --> 01:04:46,643
Walking along somewhere,
never quite knew where.
710
01:04:49,605 --> 01:04:51,642
That's really all there was.
711
01:04:57,805 --> 01:04:59,603
I didn't somehow expect it.
712
01:05:00,765 --> 01:05:02,518
I didn't anticipate that.
713
01:05:04,125 --> 01:05:05,984
I don't know why.
714
01:05:14,885 --> 01:05:16,524
Tom!
715
01:05:16,645 --> 01:05:18,682
Come along! What are you doing?
716
01:05:32,885 --> 01:05:34,444
The house itself.
717
01:05:39,925 --> 01:05:41,325
What was it like?
718
01:05:50,565 --> 01:05:52,045
Where did I sleep?
719
01:06:02,325 --> 01:06:03,918
I can't remember much.
720
01:06:21,565 --> 01:06:24,319
This is too difficult.
721
01:06:29,245 --> 01:06:30,804
I don't remember.
722
01:06:34,725 --> 01:06:36,045
Isn't that strange?
723
01:06:42,205 --> 01:06:43,924
Oh, I just don't remember.
724
01:06:51,165 --> 01:06:52,963
It was exactly that moment.
725
01:06:55,965 --> 01:06:57,115
A world is lost.
726
01:07:07,245 --> 01:07:11,922
And it wasn't just
the Melbourne I knew that was lost.
727
01:07:13,685 --> 01:07:15,483
I myself was lost.
728
01:07:19,525 --> 01:07:22,040
I began to be terribly afraid...
729
01:07:23,365 --> 01:07:27,245
that something would be broken
between us which could not be healed...
730
01:07:34,085 --> 01:07:38,364
that you were disappearing into a world
where I could not follow.
731
01:07:57,285 --> 01:08:00,039
Everything was just tumbling down.
732
01:08:20,365 --> 01:08:22,880
We knew we wouldn't go back, didn't we?
733
01:08:31,085 --> 01:08:33,520
We will never do this again.
734
01:09:05,525 --> 01:09:09,883
I have returned home
with a feeling of immense relief.
735
01:09:13,045 --> 01:09:17,324
To be again in a familiar house,
surrounded by familiar objects...
736
01:09:23,445 --> 01:09:25,277
to have in my mind a mental picture
737
01:09:25,405 --> 01:09:29,285
of the environment in the streets
and city around me
738
01:09:30,725 --> 01:09:34,321
is like having the world
restored to me again.
739
01:09:36,365 --> 01:09:37,594
Three.
740
01:09:40,165 --> 01:09:41,394
Two.
741
01:09:43,445 --> 01:09:44,401
One!
742
01:09:44,525 --> 01:09:46,437
Here I come, ready or not!
743
01:10:03,045 --> 01:10:05,355
Now... Let me see.
744
01:10:05,485 --> 01:10:09,764
Never have I done
the washing up with such happiness.
745
01:10:09,885 --> 01:10:12,957
I got up this morning
and made Marilyn a cup of tea.
746
01:10:13,085 --> 01:10:14,963
Would he be...?
747
01:10:15,085 --> 01:10:17,042
Feeling so grateful...
748
01:10:17,165 --> 01:10:18,155
No...
749
01:10:18,285 --> 01:10:22,120
...that I could move freely,
that I knew where things were,
750
01:10:22,245 --> 01:10:24,237
that I could act.
751
01:10:24,365 --> 01:10:26,402
Is he behind the curtain?
752
01:10:27,885 --> 01:10:29,365
No, not there, either.
753
01:10:29,485 --> 01:10:33,479
That I was coming out of
that shadowland of passivity...
754
01:10:34,165 --> 01:10:35,724
Where could he be?
755
01:10:36,565 --> 01:10:39,956
...into personal action and life again.
756
01:10:41,645 --> 01:10:43,557
Got you!
757
01:11:12,205 --> 01:11:15,562
September 22nd, 1985.
758
01:11:21,805 --> 01:11:23,956
I love the smell of him.
759
01:11:25,605 --> 01:11:29,485
The way I can slightly sense
when he's looking at me now.
760
01:11:32,805 --> 01:11:36,640
I also like feeling his little nose
and holding one foot.
761
01:11:39,405 --> 01:11:42,876
I love holding his little hands
and putting my own hand
762
01:11:43,005 --> 01:11:45,236
on the warmth of his head.
763
01:11:46,965 --> 01:11:49,878
The feel of him as I have him
over my shoulder.
764
01:11:58,205 --> 01:12:00,845
It's 7.00 am and time for Radio 8
765
01:12:00,965 --> 01:12:03,958
and here's your host, Immy Hull!
766
01:12:04,085 --> 01:12:06,042
It will be drizzly today,
767
01:12:06,165 --> 01:12:09,761
with occasional intervals of sun.
Later on in the day...
768
01:12:09,885 --> 01:12:14,516
Two or three times this week,
I have taken Thomas to school.
769
01:12:14,645 --> 01:12:16,841
Or perhaps I'd say he has taken me.
770
01:12:17,685 --> 01:12:21,964
And he is getting quite good
at guiding me, although unreliable.
771
01:12:23,885 --> 01:12:26,164
Right, let's look at you.
772
01:12:26,285 --> 01:12:29,995
We also have a way of saying goodbye
773
01:12:30,125 --> 01:12:32,037
which is the equivalent of waving.
774
01:12:33,045 --> 01:12:36,595
As he runs off through the playground,
775
01:12:36,725 --> 01:12:38,125
he shouts out, "Bye!"
776
01:12:38,245 --> 01:12:39,201
Bye!
777
01:12:39,325 --> 01:12:41,044
And I shout, "Bye!"
778
01:12:41,165 --> 01:12:42,121
Bye!
779
01:12:42,245 --> 01:12:43,201
Bye.
780
01:12:43,325 --> 01:12:45,442
And we keep up this
781
01:12:45,565 --> 01:12:47,955
- echoing chorus...
- Bye.
782
01:12:48,085 --> 01:12:50,805
...until his voice becomes faint.
783
01:12:53,965 --> 01:12:55,365
Bye!
784
01:12:55,485 --> 01:12:57,044
Bye!
785
01:12:58,045 --> 01:12:59,525
I love this.
786
01:13:14,925 --> 01:13:18,919
I had said to myself that I would
learn to live with blindness,
787
01:13:19,045 --> 01:13:20,843
but I would never accept it.
788
01:13:27,125 --> 01:13:33,076
Now I find that there's been a strange
kind of change in the state of my brain.
789
01:13:39,605 --> 01:13:43,599
It's as if now, being denied stimulus
of the outside world,
790
01:13:44,525 --> 01:13:46,915
the thing has turned in upon itself
791
01:13:47,045 --> 01:13:49,357
in order to find inner resources.
792
01:13:57,325 --> 01:13:59,442
Occasionally I go home in the evening
793
01:13:59,565 --> 01:14:02,558
and I feel as if my mind is almost blown
794
01:14:02,685 --> 01:14:05,681
with new ideas and new horizons.
795
01:14:09,125 --> 01:14:10,957
I find myself connecting more,
796
01:14:11,085 --> 01:14:12,155
remembering more,
797
01:14:12,285 --> 01:14:13,799
making more links in my mind
798
01:14:14,805 --> 01:14:18,242
between the various things I've read
and learned all my life.
799
01:14:21,805 --> 01:14:23,797
I now feel clearer,
800
01:14:23,925 --> 01:14:25,439
more excited,
801
01:14:25,565 --> 01:14:28,399
more adventurous,
more confident intellectually
802
01:14:28,525 --> 01:14:30,437
than I've ever felt in my life.
803
01:14:40,165 --> 01:14:44,000
There is something so totally
purging about blindness
804
01:14:44,125 --> 01:14:47,641
that one either is destroyed or renewed.
805
01:14:52,805 --> 01:14:55,559
Your consciousness is evacuated.
806
01:15:04,765 --> 01:15:07,803
Your past memories, your interests,
807
01:15:08,405 --> 01:15:10,317
your perception of time,
808
01:15:13,205 --> 01:15:14,719
place itself.
809
01:15:16,565 --> 01:15:18,079
The world itself!
810
01:15:26,445 --> 01:15:28,402
One must recreate one's life.
811
01:15:32,925 --> 01:15:34,564
In my case, fortunately,
812
01:15:35,285 --> 01:15:38,915
I had a central core
around which to recreate it.
813
01:15:43,405 --> 01:15:45,044
That was my good fortune.
814
01:16:25,045 --> 01:16:26,798
You all right there, John?
815
01:16:27,405 --> 01:16:28,998
Anything I can help you with?
816
01:16:29,125 --> 01:16:31,003
No, I'm fine.
817
01:17:19,885 --> 01:17:22,400
The whole place was just throbbing.
818
01:17:24,645 --> 01:17:27,524
You know, you could feel the pews
vibrating with it.
819
01:17:27,645 --> 01:17:28,840
Hmm...
820
01:17:32,485 --> 01:17:35,284
Suddenly, I had the most intense feeling
821
01:17:38,245 --> 01:17:40,362
that God was approaching me.
822
01:17:46,965 --> 01:17:51,437
And I just had this vivid, vivid sense
823
01:17:52,525 --> 01:17:54,084
of the Divine Presence.
824
01:17:59,725 --> 01:18:04,424
Now He'd come sort of swooping in
825
01:18:05,125 --> 01:18:09,244
from some great business
He'd been up to, intergalactically.
826
01:18:09,365 --> 01:18:12,278
That's ridiculous, darling!
827
01:18:12,405 --> 01:18:14,840
Well, you know, that's how it seemed.
828
01:18:14,965 --> 01:18:16,877
He'd made a special visit.
829
01:18:23,645 --> 01:18:25,876
And He threw a dark cloak over me.
830
01:18:33,845 --> 01:18:34,801
And then
831
01:18:37,045 --> 01:18:39,799
the most remarkable thing was
832
01:18:41,765 --> 01:18:44,041
that He didn't leave, He couldn't leave.
833
01:18:44,845 --> 01:18:46,564
He was there just waiting.
834
01:18:50,525 --> 01:18:52,517
And I said, "I'll be fine.
835
01:18:53,365 --> 01:18:55,243
"Don't worry about me."
836
01:19:03,045 --> 01:19:05,241
And in that pause, I had a sense
837
01:19:08,405 --> 01:19:09,885
of such grace.
838
01:19:14,485 --> 01:19:15,885
And I thought,
839
01:19:16,005 --> 01:19:18,361
"That's it. It's a gift.
840
01:19:20,725 --> 01:19:22,125
"It's not a gift I want.
841
01:19:23,085 --> 01:19:25,759
"It's not a gift I want my children to have,
842
01:19:25,885 --> 01:19:27,001
"but it is a gift.
843
01:19:34,125 --> 01:19:35,525
"So the question is
844
01:19:37,285 --> 01:19:38,799
"not, "Why have I got it?"
845
01:19:40,405 --> 01:19:42,442
"but, "What am I going to do with it?""
61014
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