If you thought you were going to die and had only one wish, what would you wish for?
A local woman was faced with that scenario, and she wished for something most of us take for granted.
74-year-old Marion Bristol says, "I had problems all the time."
She hasn't had an easy life. She has a curvature of the spine, breathing problems, and bladder issues.
She's also battled breast cancer.
"When I left the hospital a year and a half ago, I was supposed to have two weeks to live."
Knowing the future looked grim, Marion decided to do what she could never do before: read.
Marion had a condition where she couldn't focus on words and over time they got blurry.
"I would read just a paragraph and then letters would go in wiggly form. They blur. I just couldn't read any amount before."
Marion got help from the Vision Therapy Group in Burton.
Dr. Bradley Habermehl, from the Vision Therapy Group, says "I was very guarded to take on her case, but her motivation was so huge. She said, 'This is a dying wish for me. This is something I want to accomplish before my days end on earth.' How do you say 'no' to that?"
Within weeks of coaching and training, Marion was able to pick up a book and understand it.
She says her quality of life has been enriched by the ability to read. She says, "It's probably one of the things that keeps me going."
She's already gotten through Barbara Walter's book, and now she's on to Larry King's book "My Remarkable Journey."
It's a title she's not only reading, but living.
"I'm very happy, very happy."
Marion says, her mother would read her assignments outloud to her all through high school.
She says, her ability to take good notes got her through college.
The vision therapy group says it shows what people can accomplish if they put their minds to it.
