Hello again;
On this episode of The What’s Your Excuse? Show I want you to meet my friend and number one supporter of Team Ivey Elisa Tovar.
I met Elisa at a time when I didn’t feel real great about myself. I had come back from a speaking trip to the Northeast that hadn’t gone as well as I had planned.
I got sick, ended up broke, and wasn’t too far away from being homeless in New York City.
Two long time friends helped me get back home again.
But at the end of 2018 I wasn’t feeling much like a super hero.
I was convinced to continue sharing my story only to do it in my own back yard.
Before traveling to speak I had tried booking local events with little success.
My only speaking event in Houston before meeting Elisa was for the Houston chapter of the Foundation Fighting Blindness in May of 2018.
But Elisa saw my posts on face book about needing to do local speaking events, and she reached out to me.
She wanted me to come speak to a group that she was involved in called the Visually Impaired People of Southeast Texas.
She introduced me to their President Ron, and evnetually we made arrangements for me to speak at one of their meetins.
I think it’s great that Elisa reached out to me without any thought about whether or not I would be willing to speak to such a small group.
I think there were fifteen people there on the night I gave my talk.
And Elisa gave me a wonderful introduction. Her usual enthusiasm shown through. You could feel how excited she was to not only be meeting me in person, to be hearing me speak, but to have been the one to make it happen.
Plus she had the honor of giving me an introduction that was so off the hook that I actually paused for half a minute before begining my talk.
You can hear that talk hear and appreciate Elisa’s usual powerful personality. Because she was sick when recording this interview.
After I finished talking, I was told that their group passed the hat, and they raised $35 for me. This was great because I didn’t expect it, and because their generosity just covered my uber costs for the night.
Now that you know who Elisa is and how we met, you will understand why I wanted to have her on my show.
She isn’t famous.
She doesn’t have a sexy job or career.
She isn’t an author, blogger, or podcaster.
But what she is is exactly what my show is about.
She is a woman working hard to make a life for herself on her own terms.
She loves her family and enjoys spending time with them.
She has hopes of a job that she can be proud of and depend on to give her a living so she can have a family of her own someday.
She deals with the daly challenges of vision loss on her own terms.
And we talked about some of that.
We agreed that one of the biggest problems in a blind person’s life is finding stuff that falls on the floor.
We talked about frustrations with acquiring and using technology.
And this interview is a little random even for me.
You can hear her sincerity, honesty, and passion come through.
And yes it’s ovvious she loves me. 🙂
I’m hoping that hearing from Elisa will remind you that every act no matter how small is putting you one step closer to your goal.
I also hope she encourages you to take control of your life in a way that makes sense for you.
Elisa has certainly decided what success looks like for her.
And I’m certain that by the time you finish watching or listening you will think if she can do this much then what’s my excuse.
Oh, she sings along with me on the intro. And she made a request to have me sing buckaroo at the end of the show.
But don’t any of you future guests go getting any ideas.
I’m not taking requests as a rule. I did that only for Elisa.
Now On With The Show
I hope you enjoyed this fun, honest, conversation between two blind people who truly care for each other and who are doing their best to make their own ways in the world.
Hoping you check out my friend Elisa on Face Book.
She is a very active user of that platform.
And if she takes a liking to you, it’s like having a social media manager.
I appreciate your taking the time to watch or listen.
I couldn’t do this without your support.
Until next time thanks and take care out there, Max