In these trying times, we need every ounce of positivity that we can grab and Dalesha and Manny are here doing exactly that along with spreading positive vibes all around them. They are showing the world how to find the silver lining.
Dalesha and Manny are a legally blind couple who started a YouTube channel entitled “Dalesha’s Life“ which shares the day-to-day life, achievements and sometimes struggles of being one of the America’s only legally blind interracial couples. They are showing everyone now that if they can get through this COVID-19 time and world in general – cleaning items, cooking, grocery shopping, joking around, etc. – while blind, so can they! They believe that opening up their life for everyone to see will help in beginning to change those misconceptions some have about blind people.
What do we know about Dalesha and Manny?
Dalesha Richardson was born in Belize and her life became complicated as soon as she was born. Dalesha was declared legally blind by the doctors and so eventually ended up moving to the United States in an attempt to receive better medical care for her low vision. Unfortunately, nothing could really improve her sight but she learned to adapt and continue her life with cards she was dealt.
Manuel Gimenez had a similar story. He was born in Carbondale, Illinois but his heritage lies in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Manuel, or Manny, was declared legally blind as well and has been ever since.
How successful are Dalesha and Manny?
Considering the challenges that both of them grew up with, they have achieved a lot and consider themselves to be somewhat successful today. They believe that whatever they have done together so far are their greatest accomplishments. They have both overcome hurdles in their life as individuals and as a couple but they have always successfully come out the other side. But what they consider their best moments are buying their own home in 2012 and opening up their lives to millions of others on Youtube in 2016 as they teach them how to cope with legal blindness and how to continue leading a normal a life, as one can.
What is so unique about “Dalesha’s Life” on YouTube and what viewers get to see?
On Dalesha’s Life, they show their life as a legally blind couple. They share their adventures with cooking, shopping, house hunting, traveling, and everything in between. Viewers get to see them do all of these things without filtering anything out, they get to see their good and their bad, their struggles and their achievements. Everybody gets to be a part of their sorrow as well as their happiness.
They believe that their viewers want to see them being themselves and showing what life is really like for those that have severe visual impairments. In the future, they plan to take their viewers with them as they start a family and raise a child together because they want to show the world that no challenge can stop them from living the life they want and neither should it stop anyone else from living their dreams.
Have either Dalesha or Manny faced any tragedies in their personal or professional lives?
Since both of them are very family-oriented,they consider the deaths of their grandparents to be the most impactful tragedies in their lives, even to this day.
Dalesha’s grandfather passed away in 2006 when she was only 10 years old. She was very attached to her grandfather and misses him everyday of her life. With everything that her life has been, she still considers this to be the biggest tragedy of her life. In Manny’s case, it was his grandmother who passed away. She died in 2018 and Manny hasn’t felt the same without her.
Overcoming tragedies such as these is never easy and they both feel that they still haven’t fully discovered how to truly get over them. Moving on from the loss of loved ones is never easily accomplished and they are both still trying their best but it isn’t something one can ever move on from.
What are their hopes for Dalesha’s Life in the future?
Their biggest hope is that they can change the way the next generation sees legally blind individuals by entertaining them with their day-to-day life and letting them know that this medical condition is nothing but a hiccup in the bigger picture that is life.
They want to make the world laugh along with them as they encounter life’s biggest problems, and eventually overcome new obstacles.
In the end, they hope that sharing their life with the public will create a level of comfort with legal blindness that has never been experienced before.
Any Quote or “words of wisdom” that they both live by?
For Dalesha, the words of wisdom that she lives by are: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” She is kind and patient with the world and hopes that they do the same for her.
Manny chooses to live by a quote from his grandmother which is “Remember, there is always someone smarter than you out there.” This is why Manny always likes to ask questions from everybody he meets because one of those people may have some knowledge that he doesn’t already have.
How are they both making the world a better place today?
For years, Dalesha has volunteered at the local animal shelter for abandoned pets. Last year, Manny quit his job so that he could focus on reaching more of the public with their YouTube channel in the hopes that they would make life a little bit easier for others who are legally blind. And they continue to do so everyday so they can help the blind deal with every aspect of their lives without the struggles that Dalesha and Manny had to face while they went through it.
It is not about what they do everyday to bring a ray of sunshine into the lives of people who can only see the dark, but everyday that Dalesha and Manny overcome something as an interracial blind couple, they make this world a better place and give hope to the people who had none.