Submitted by Tomaca
I remember my mother saying “Don’t read in the dark, you’ll ruin your eyes” she would say as I lay in bed reading – yes, in the dark! But, I could see perfectly fine. The letters and words were very clear to me. I would tell her, “Mom, I’ve got eagle eyes – no problems here.” She would shake her head and walk away leaving me to continue what I was doing.
When I hit my forties, I noticed that words and letters were becoming just a tad bit difficult to make out. Finally (and to my foolish little mind’s amazement — how could this happen?), it got to the point where I had to make that trip to the eye doctor and yes, it was confirmed – “You need to start wearing glasses to read.”
It was actually kind of exciting at first because I picked out a pair that I really liked and of course – I got an attractive eye glass case to keep them in. I felt kind of “official,” if that makes sense, when I put them on to read. Of course, I no longer read in the dark, but now I could make a lady-like pause and pull out my glasses to read with (like it added some sophistication to who I was).
As a child, some of us come to believe that people who wear glasses are smarter than people who don’t. I don’t know how that ever got started, but when you went person-by-person, there wasn’t always truth to it. But our mindset as children was that people who wore glasses were smarter. So, with that engrained in my subconscious, it seemingly elevated my perception of myself. (But, yeah – wishful thinking. Turns out not to be true in my case!)
Anyway, of course, as time wears on, the eyesight continues to wear out. The world is disappearing more and more these days from my eyes and the eye glass prescription numbers get higher as the glasses themselves get thicker. I am grateful however, that it is still just for reading. I can still see distances really well and hope that stays with me.
Both my parents were wearing glasses full time as they got older. They needed them to read with and to see in general. I am holding my breath with hopes that I won’t end up there! But, I keep in perspective that I am very grateful to have sight.
Meanwhile, it’s regular annual eye exams and reading prescriptions that inch up slowly as time goes by. I’ll just keep donning my foster grant reading glasses as necessary. Remember the commercial with the slogan “Who’s behind those Foster Grants?” That will be me!