A year or two ago, my parents visited the place. My mom had gotten Namine an “early reader” book about Helen Keller, and she’s read it practically to pieces. Given how much she loves the story of Helen Keller, though, I don’t mind.
Namine was quite excited to visit Helen Keller’s house. She’s got a number of history and historical fiction books, so she’s not always clear on what’s true and what’s not. (Case in point: a book we’re reading right now, The Apprentice, is a story which takes place in Renaissance Italy, but it’s fiction.) She was delighted to find that Helen Keller’s story is a true one, but also heartbroken to learn that she had passed away.
The tour outside the house was largely self-guided, but a tour guide described much of the house’s contents, such as the bedrooms, the dishware and cookware, the clothing, and the wall art. Everything except for the upstairs of the house was handicap accessible, but I didn’t mind carrying Namine up the stairs so she could see everything.
After we had seen everything inside the house and out — and believe me, Namine lingered more than once at the famous water pump — I followed Namine as she wheeled around the grounds on the sidewalk. She was hesitant to leave, despite the fact that we were all tired and hungry from our day’s drive.
Before we left, my mom bought Namine another book about Helen Keller — this one more appropriate for her reading level. She started reading it as soon as she got herself buckled up in the car.
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