Sharon Jandrowski has endured much of what life has to offer in both the best and worst ways possible.
Having six children while running an at-home daycare does take its toll on a woman, but it gave her and her family opportunities to get to know other people’s lives and children, along with taking many trips upstate to Mauston, let alone around the country.
She has also had to endure the task of raising four of her children while fighting a genetic disorder that hindered their vision, but not their success in life: Retinitis Pigmentosa.
According to medlineplus.gov, Retinitis Pigmentosa, or RP for short, is a genetic defect composed of multiple eye disorders. RP affects how photoreceptors in the eye work, sometimes causing total blindness in adults.
Two of Sharon’s children, the late Anthony and his sister Theresa (Gilliland), have gone completely blind in their lifetime. Her other son, Timothy, and third-oldest daughter, Tamara (Frentzel), have been rendered partially blind. Timothy has tunnel vision, while Tamara can see shadows and dark hues, but not true shapes of objects or faces.
Second-oldest daughter Patricia (Strash) and youngest daughter Tanya (Kroll) have not experienced vision issues in their lives from RP to this point.
Yet, none of the four blind children went blind before adulthood, each going blind at different ages.
Each of the four blind adults have gone on to live prosperous lives of their own, “independent and able to support themselves” Jandrowski said.
Terri has been married to her husband Tracy for much of her adult life, raising three kids and now one grandchild. She has even published a memoir of her husband following a near-fatal motorcycle collision he was involved in in 1999. It is titled “In A Moment.”
Timothy is now a sports-radio show host in Milwaukee. He primarily covers the Milwaukee Brewers in a nightly postgame format following each game in the regular and post-season.
Anthony enjoyed a life filled with his many hobbies, including frisbee golf and coin collecting. He tragically passed away in 2020. Tamara now works as a member of Society’s Assets, a healthcare service to disabled persons in the southeast region of Wisconsin.