THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 13, 1995 TAG: 9502130213
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
FRAN MERCHANT SHUDDERS at the memory of that dreadful day in 1976. She had been struggling with depression and blindness. She wanted to die.
Merchant climbed to the top of the railing of her 10th floor apartment balcony, took a deep breath and prepared to jump.
Just as she was about to dive into the parking lot, a friend walked into her unlocked apartment and talked her down.
Merchant, then in her mid-40s, thought she had many reasons for suicide: the mother of four was losing her sight due to a rare incurable eye disease, her rocky marriage was crumbling, her children were grown and leaving home.
She felt useless, but she said it was the blindness that made life intolerable.
``All I could think about then were the things I couldn't do,'' she said recently, seated in her Ghent apartment. ``I thought I couldn't work anymore, I couldn't put my clothes together, put on makeup, cook or clean, take care of myself.
``I felt helpless.''
It is difficult to imagine Merchant in despair. Today, holding court from a favorite chair in her tidy living room, Merchant is composed, collected and in control. With a perfectly manicured hand she pats her leader dog, Brandy, who sits by her side. Merchant's makeup is expertly applied, her hair is neatly combed and her magenta slacks and blouse match perfectly.
Not bad for a blind woman who lives alone. Fran Merchant, after almost 20 years of blindness, is self-sufficient.
``About the only thing I really need help with is my mail,'' she said, gesturing to the table where the day's collection is piled.
The friend who rescued Merchant from suicide helped her enroll in a state-sponsored training program for the blind. It was there that Merchant learned to cook, clean and take care of herself. She also mastered Braille and learned to operate an array of electronic equipment that allows her to record telephone messages, listen to the daily newspaper being read and have special narration on television programs.
Other things she figured out for herself - like how to apply lipstick.
``I just began practicing with Chapstick and then I graduated to colors,'' she said, flashing a smile. ``I never worry about messing it up anymore.''
Learning to do mundane household chores was difficult, but Merchant persevered.
``You just learn how to do things,'' she said, sighing. ``It's not as easy as when you had sight, all those things you take for granted are gone, but you can learn to take care of yourself.
``When I first became blind, my children were worried about me,'' she added. ``They didn't want me doing anything. Now they can't stop me.''
They can't - and wouldn't - stop her from serving on Norfolk's commission for the handicapped; for lobbying the General Assembly to strengthen laws protecting blind people and their guide dogs; and for fighting for years to get the City of Norfolk to install a special traffic light at the intersection of Colonial Avenue and Princess Anne Road.
``I hardly think about Fran anymore,'' said Merchant, lapsing into the third person. ``I'm busy trying to help other people who are losing their sight.''
Merchant says if she ``knew then what I know now'' she would not have sold her single family home and moved into senior citizen housing when she lost her sight. She wouldn't have quit her job at a grocery store, either.
``When I found myself unable to read the prices on cans, I just quit,'' she recalled, falling silent and allowing herself a moment of regret. ``There were so many things I could have kept doing, but I was focusing on the things I couldn't do.''
Although it took her two years of lobbying Norfolk city officials about the dangerous intersection of Colonial Avenue and Princess Anne Road right outside her door, it all paid off in January.
A special electronic signal has been operational there for almost a month.
Around her neck Merchant wears a chain with a small plastic rectangle dangling from it. When Brandy leads her to the intersection, Merchant presses a button and waits. Soon traffic stops in all directions, and a beeper sounds, indicating it is safe to cross the street. After a few minutes, the beeper makes a faster noise, a signal that it is too late for a sightless person to safely enter the intersection.
``You have no idea what a difference this will make,'' Merchant said, grinning broadly at the intersection, happily listening to the beeper. ``There's nothing scarier when you're blind than stepping out into traffic.''
Merchant would like to see the city install these special traffic lights at other busy intersections.
As she waited for the light to change, Merchant stroked Brandy - the fourth leader dog she's had since 1977. (All her dogs have been leader dogs, given to Merchant by the Lions Club.)
``She's special, the smartest one yet,'' Merchant said affectionately.
Brandy wears a sign on her leather harness: ``Please don't pet me, I'm working.''
Merchant put the notice on Brandy when dog lovers in her apartment building couldn't resist petting the sweet golden retriever.
Merchant said other people have tormented the dog, leading her to push for laws to protect working dogs.
``You wouldn't believe the kind of people there are in the world,'' she said. ``People throw things at leader dogs, tease them or hit them.''
In fact, Merchant moved from her last apartment building when a maintenance man repeatedly teased Brandy.
In typical Merchant style, she did more than just move away. Merchant called her elected representative in Richmond and begged him to introduce legislation that would make it criminal to interfere with Seeing Eye dogs doing their job.
Del. Tom Moss found other delegates with similar complaints from constituents. Together the lawmakers drafted a bill protecting leader dogs from harassment. It passed the House of Delegates last week and is now being considered by the Senate.
H.B. 1681 makes it illegal to ``interfere or impede with the duties of a guide dog.'' If passed by the Senate, violators can go to jail and be fined.
``If it passes, it will be great,'' Merchant said.
If it doesn't pass, she'll fight for it next session.
``I never give up,'' she said, laughing. ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Fran Merchant gets around town thanks to leader dog Brandy.
Merchant lobbied the City Norfolk to install a special electronic
signal at a dangerous intersection. The signal activiates by an
electronic beeper she wears around her neck.
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Fran Merchant has problems with people tormenting her leader dog,
Brandy.
KEYWORDS: WORKING DOG BLIND by CNB