Soaring into Greatness: A Blind Woman's Vision to Live her Dreams and Fly

by Gail Hamilton

"A beautiful story of someone who has overcome a physical handicap and changed it into a force that is an inspiration." -- President Jimmy Carter


Born ten weeks premature and requiring oxygen to survive, Gail Hamilton's first six weeks of life began within an incubator. Six months later, doctors discovered that Gail had retrolental fibroplasia (RLF), an eye condition caused by the infusion of 100% pure oxygen. By age eleven, she was completely blind.
Soaring into Greatness follows Gail's story as her outer visual world merged with her inner vision, forcing her to listen with her inner voice, to follow her heart and tune into her intuition. Subjected to physical and emotional abuse, ostracized and oftentimes feeling alone, Gail's journey is one of the courage and perseverance it takes to find one's way through the darkness and soar.
"I believe my desire to fly must be bigger than my fear of falling. Vision is internal, not external, and is guided by my heart, not my eyes. In order to be free, to fly, I must want my dream, feel my dream, and believe that my dream will come true. Most importantly, I must live my dream. I am the creator of my destiny, the composer of my symphony, and I choose to live a life of greatness." - Gail Hamilton

ebook

First published November 6, 2014

Reviews

[Khanh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soaring Into Greatness is Gail Hamilton’s candid memoir about living with retrolental fibroplasia (RLF), a condition affecting premature infants that causes blindness. But her story is less about blindness than about the complexities of a life marked by both visible and hidden struggles.

I think what sets this memoir apart is Ms. Hamilton’s honesty and bravery in recounting deeply traumatic experiences—in specific, sexual assault by a sibling and abuse from family members who should have been her protectors. She shares these truths not to elicit sympathy, but because they are essential to understanding her story and the person she has become.

A gifted musician, Ms. Hamilton earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in music. She dedicated many years to teaching and performing classical music, finding a community that embraced her for both her talents and her humanity. Having extensively studied classical music myself, I appreciated her detailed reflections on learning braille music and music theory.

Sprinkled throughout certain passages are familiar blind clichés—such as “seeing with my heart”—which I find personally uncomfortable. But this does not lessen the authenticity or individuality of her story.

This was a heavy and deeply vulnerable read—one that stirred joy, respect, grief, and hope within me. It opened a window into another woman’s world, reflecting aspects familiar to me, while also challenging me to consider a perspective unlike my own.

Gail Hamilton’s achievements are hers alone—rooted in talent, hard work, determination, and intellect. They are not defined by blindness, though blindness is part of her identity. Her story exposes a world designed without regard for true inclusion, revealing barriers that arise not only from disability but from a society that too often overlooks those who do not fiT THE NORM.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing woman. From a rocky start as a newborn, to near blindness and an unsupportive family as a young child, to total blindness and being musically gifted as a young woman, she then becomes involved with a communal group which does help her to grow and learn to believe in herself.
Following this change in her outlook, she keeps testing herself and others until even the sky does not prove to be a limit.
Cindy Piller gave a wonderful performance in narrating this book.