Blind couple don't mind dark

By Greg Elwell

Published: December 16, 2007

CARNEY — When the lights went out in Frank and Marie Tietz's house Monday, they didn't notice.

That's because the Tietzes are both blind.

"We've been married 20 years and we haven't seen each other yet,” Marie Tietz said.

They also don't see any reason to leave, despite losing power on Monday.

"The gas heat is still on,” Tietz said. "But it is nice to have the boys bring in hot meals.”

Members of the nearby Carney Fire Department and the local Explorers group have been checking on the couple every few hours since the ice storm hit, but it wasn't until Wednesday they started taking food.

"We kept asking them if they were OK,” Carney emergency operations director Greg Wilson said. "They kept saying they were fine.”

It was Tietz's daughter from her first marriage who called Wilson and asked for them to take hot food to the pair, who had just been making do with what they had on hand.

"We were just eating whatever we could find,” Frank Tietz said. "We weren't hurting too bad.”

Before the storm hit, they received Meals on Wheels, but the service hasn't been delivering to the area. Now the folks cooking community meals at the fire department make sure to take a few over to the Tietzes.

Not that there haven't been a few inconveniences. Marie usually listens to audio magazines and Frank likes to tinker in his workshop, sometimes with power tools. Still, the portable radio is keeping them entertained, and they're not too worried about running out of batteries — they don't need them for the flashlight, anyway.

The most worried they've been since the power went out was one night when they heard their water pump stop, Frank Tietz said.

"That was the only time I was uneasy,” he said. "Because you can live without a lot of things, but water is pretty important.”

Wilson said it happened when his crew hooked up a different water pump to a generator, made necessary when many in town were running all their taps to keep pipes from freezing.

"Some of these folks act like it's all over out there, but you guys have lived through the Depression,” he told the couple. "Two or three weeks of roughing it ain't so bad.”

Frank Tietz said they're not suffering, but he's still looking forward to the power coming back on.

Unfortunately, that might be a while, Wilson said. Estimates he's received have the town of Carney getting electric service back after Christmas.

"It's back to normal for a lot of folks, just not here,” he said.

In the meantime, many in town will wait for the lights to come back on — except for Tietzes. Marie said she'll get to see Frank's face once they're in Heaven.

"I've been told he's very handsome,” she said.

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