Four Eyes

I have been fit for contact lenses more times than I can count. But astigmatism just doesn't mesh well with contacts. So what once was something I purposefully avoided, has now become a pipe dream. Earlier this year when we experienced a rather large earthquake, after my heart found it's way back into my chest, I'd checked on all our family and friends and had time to evaluate what we should have done, and what we could do in the future to be more ready, my one main thought was "What if my glasses were crushed and I couldn't see?" If you know...you know.

Ask almost anyone that wears glasses or contact lenses when they first began wearing them, and I bet they can tell you almost down to the hour. As in, "Oh! You mean trees have leaves?!" For me it was third grade. The eye-squinting to see the chalk-board, and the constant asking the teacher to clarify what she'd written got me sent home with a note recommending an eye exam. I was so thrilled! Being one of those kids that thought kids that wore braces and retainers were lucky, those that got to wear glasses were right up the same alley and I couldn't wait to join the club.

"Cover the left eye and read the top line......now cover the right eye....one or two....two or three...." My mother and I walked out with a prescription for near-sightedness and I waited for my frames to be filled. With glass. Glass. The sort of stuff that shatters and when you step on it it punctures the skin and makes you bleed. My eight-year-old self could find all sorts of things to worry and fret about on a good day. Now I needed to add shards of broken glass flying into my eyes to my list. Terrific.

My mother and sister both wore contact lenses. I had seen them occasionally complain that they had "lost my eye!" and spend several minutes working their eyelid to find the lost contact lens that had moved off the iris and was floating around somewhere on the whites of the eye. Sometimes it would involve a few family members getting all up in their grill staring into the afflicted eye and trying to find the little lost disc. Eyeglasses with glass was becoming more and more appealing in spite of my fears.

My wire-rimmed glasses arrived and I was ecstatic! I could SEE! Most of all I could read the chalk-board and not have to sit in the front row where I could more easily be called upon, because #introvert But then it was time for recess. And then P.E. And it often meant balls sailing toward my face. Dodgeball. Tether-ball. Basket-ball. Kick-ball. I was so afraid of them crashing into my glasses and therefore my eyes that I would duck for cover long before anything was even close to approaching me. I was usually last to get picked when choosing sides for team-games. All I wanted to do was read my books.

My very first pair of eyeglasses. Pretty certain they never shattered into a bunch of little shards of glass. I wish I had kept them!

The day I turned sixteen I went straight to the DMV and took my written exam and on-road exam. PASS! Whew! The man at the counter asked me to take the vision exam with and without my glasses. Fail. My driver's license noted that I must wear corrective eye-wear in order to legally drive. The first week I was released to drive around with friends, and of course I'm not going to wear my glasses because they aren't cute and what if we run into any boys?! Why I got pulled over, I don't remember, but I do remember that I got a written warning for not having my glasses on. Maybe contact lenses, or even the idea of losing a contact lens in my eye, wasn't such a terrible thing after all.

These weren't my glasses but my bestie Alisa's. She didn't need them but wore them for fashion. What an elusive concept to me at the time!

Today I met with an ophthalmologist to go over my options for having my vision corrected. I have avoided this for so long. Three of my children have had their vision corrected and I've become rather envious of them. Even my mother who spent all my life in either glasses or contacts, was getting cataracts and had them fixed with corrective surgery. Jealous! At my age, my vision has become both near-sighted and also in need of correction for reading. So the cost of my lenses has soared. By the time I add up the progressive correction and then all the coatings to protect them, it's upwards of $700 for a basic frame.

It'll be fun to wear glasses as more of a costume than a necessity. Can't wait!

I have another consultation next week and the Dr. will take a more in-depth look at the anatomy of my eyes to see what my best options are. I am so excited. I mean, I may be even more excited than I was at eight years old waiting for that first pair of glasses. I'm so excited I may just join a Community ladies basket-ball team! Or even a dodge-ball team! Or maybe not. Maybe I'll be super happy to just curl up on the couch with Dave and watch a movie. And lay my head down on his chest and snuggle into the crook of his arm. And still be able to see, because I won't have to take my glasses off. If you know, you know.