http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/jenniferro_5733.mp3
In this segment of Sense of Community, Michele Skalicky talks with singer/songwriter, author and motivational speaker Jennifer Rothschild.
At an age when most kids are worrying about their hair or who to take to the school dance, Jennifer Rothschild learned she was going to lose her sight…
"It was when I was 15 that I began to rapidly have trouble with my sight, which prompted a visit to an eye doctor, which lead to an eye hospital, and it was the fall of my 10th grade year, and I remember it was in the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. That's where, after several days of testing, the doctors told me I had retinitis pigmentosa. The prognosis was total blindness as the remainder of my retina would deteriorate."
By the time Rothschild was in her late 20s, her world had gone dark. Her early dreams of becoming a cartoonist and commercial artist were not to come true.But Rothschild didn’t let that deter her. She found new dreams in the form of her family’s piano…
"I began to play by ear right away and then that process of playing by ear led to songwriting, which has now led to performance and cds and in the last ten years that need to communicate--I guess a 3 1/2, 4 minute song couldn't satisfy and I began speaking and now writing books and so I think that it's just been a process of realizing that my real passion and gift was to communicate."
Rothschild had taken piano lessons off and on as a child—at times begging her parents to let her quit and then asking to start up again.When Rothschild left the hospital in 1980 after learning that she would one day lose her vision, the car ride home was silent…
"When we got home I went immediately in to our living room and I sat down at that same old upright piano that I'd had since the third grade, which I played off and on, but the silence was broken that day as I began to play by ear for the first time. I had never been a great sight reader. I could sight read anything out of the key of 'C," which really was not impressive, but I was really not a great sight reader, but on that day I couldn't even see to read sheet music. I didn't play a song I had memorized but instead I began to play by ear, and I really believe that God, in his kindness, in the way he superintended my life, gave me a gift. I think he allowed a door to close at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and allowed another to open on that piano keyboard. It was a miracle to me that I was able to play, that I really understood what I was doing on the piano, but to me the bigger miracle I think was represented in the song that I played. It was that old Protestant hymn written by Horatio Spafford, which is called "It is Well With My Soul."
Rothschild says her parents modeled for her a “can-do” attitude, which she adopted for herself.Today, she travels the country speaking to groups and sharing her music…MusicRothschild has six albums to her credit. Her name appeared on the preliminary nominations of the Gospel Music Association for the Dove Award as New Artist of the Year.Rothschild has authored several books—the best-selling is called “Lessons I learned in the Dark”…
"Even in my darkness I found an exceptional source of freedom, and I really don't want to keep it to myself. I want to share it in very practical ways with other so they can live out their life in a way that brings them real satisfaction."
She balances her travels and engagements with her job as mom to two boys—one 20 and one ten and wife to Phillip Rothschild, a professor at MO State University...
"I've learned that the hardest smallest word in the English language to say is no, and so I'm trying to be wise and align all my choices up with what I believe my mission is because I don't want my children to grow up someday and say, 'man, my mom was great. I'm sure all those women loved having time with her,' and so I've tried to measure everything I do in the light of the big picture."
Rothschild credits many people for helping her get to where she is today, but she points to one in particular…
"I could not do what I do and be who I am without my husband Philip Rothschild. I always say, 'where there's a Phil, there's a way.' He's the most resourceful, can-do guy, and he very humbly takes on roles that most men would not. For years he would polish my nails, iron clothes. Of course, he's the only one who can drive, so he does all the transporting of the kids around. He's really my hero."
Even with all that Rothschild has accomplished despite her inability to see, she doesn’t necessarily see herself as courageous…
"I don't feel courageous, and I think it's because I don't really believe courage is a feeling. I think courage is a choice, and I've just chosen over the years--I mean, we've got one of two choices. We're either brave and we keep going and we get afraid and we let that dominate us and we quit, and I've just chosen to be courageous, and I think that bravery broadens you, and fear in our lives just really limits us. Blindness is limiting enough. I don't want to impose my own limitations by fear. And the cool thing is, though, courage, though I believe it's a choice, I think then that it leads to feelings of confidence, which will help me make a good choice to be courageous the next time."
She did something in her 20s that most anyone would takes bravery—she and her husband were vacationing in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and came across at 7 ½ story bungee jump…
"He literally said to me, 'you would never do that.' Well, unfortunately, I am slightly competitive, and that's all it took, so there I was 7 1/2 stories above my own common sense, and it was terrifying, it really was, but you really think you've done something when you break the law of gravity. I'll never do it again, though."
But Rothschild’s bravery also lies in leading a successful and fulfilling life despite her inability to see. She’s learned a lot about dealing with a life-changing event. Because of that she’s well-qualified to offer advice to anyone dealing with challenges in their lives. The first thing she tells people is not to go it alone…to be brave enough to be vulnerable and share their troubles with someone else.For KSMU and the Sense of Community Series, I’m Michele Skalicky.