When you grow up fiercely independent, it's not an easy thing to ask for help. But Wendy Werthaiser was forced to start asking for help when she began losing her eyesight. Blindness did slow her down, but barely. She still teaches school in Ashland and continues her athletic pursuits, including some really fast bicycling, aboard a tandem with a partner.

Wendy tells her own story in the latest edition of Stories from the Hearth, our joint project with The Hearth, an Ashland-based storytelling nonprofit. Wendy talks of her special blend of fearlessness and vulnerability.