Light After Darkness

Mrs. Frank Cerra of Scranton, Pa. could not see her newborn son: while the baby was being delivered, she had gone totally blind. Her doctor told her that she had had an optic hemorrhage. Mrs. Cerra went to an oculist: he told her she would never see again. That was eleven years ago.

Early this month, Mary Cerra, 38, complained of arthritis, went to a doctor for treatment. That night, she awakened with a start. She was sure she had seen something earlier in the day--the scales in the doctor's office. Now, she was equally sure, she could see the bedroom clock.

Mrs. Cerra did not waken her husband; she wanted to make sure it was not a cruel trick of her imagination. Next day, she got her daughter Mary Ann to take her back to the doctor's. On the way, she shook off Mary Ann's guiding arm. In the office, she pointed and asked: "Isn't there a scale over in that corner?" There was. The doctor tested brown-eyed Mrs. Cerra with colored and lettered charts. She had regained partial vision.

Mary Cerra hurried to the hospital where Joseph, the son she had never seen, was laid up with rheumatic fever. All she could say was: "He's handsome--just handsome."

Through her years of darkness, Mrs. Cerra had never lost faith or hope. She prayed continually, made novena after novena. Now, though doctors have hinted that she may not keep her sight, she refuses to worry. She is having too good a time studying faces, fashions and colors. "During the dark days," she says, "I couldn't imagine what lavender looked like. Now I can see it, but, you know, I've got so I don't like it."

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