When I was forty I finally gave in to the fact that I needed glasses all the time. Up until that point, I wore them only for reading. I had glasses from the time I was thirteen, but like most teenage girls, I resisted them. I thought I looked better without them, a notion that was reinforced by my friends.
Well, time marched on and my sight got worse and worse. I found glasses perched on the end of my nose more and more often. I wore them all day and only removed them for social occasions. I guess I didn’t mind everything being fuzzy at parties!
Then the inevitable happened, I found that I no longer could get away without corrective lenses. I tried contact lenses, but they were impossible to put on because I can’t stand anything in my eyes. My vision changed, and finally, even though I was young for bifocals, they were my fate.
I became a glasses wearer. Finding just the right pair of glasses was a quest every time my prescription changed. I wore every type of frame from metal toned to a pretty pair with shades of lavender that worked well with my hazel eyes.
I reached the next plateau recently—I developed cataracts. I realized something was drastically wrong on one of our trips to see our daughter in California. We landed at night and rented a car. To my horror, I realized that I couldn’t see very clearly when I pulled onto the maniacal traffic on the freeway. (Freeways, for the uninitiated, are the highways everyone uses in California. The slow traffic travels at about sixty miles an hour.)
At first I thought that I was going blind. It was terrifying! I drove without my glasses because it seemed that I could see better without them. Needless to say, I went to my eye doctor immediately when we returned home. I needed cataract surgery. I was pretty excited thinking that at last, I could do without my glasses—I would have young eyes again.
But a funny thing happened. The surgery was a great success—except for one thing. I didn’t realize that I should get a near vision lens and a distance vision lens. Instead, I got two distance lenses. Which is great if you want to see well enough to drive but a pain in the neck if you want to read or even see the food on your plate clearly. It was annoying to have everything near me look fuzzy.
So I bought several pairs of over the counter glasses which I left in strategic places. Instead of one pair of glasses, I have many pairs of glasses all over the house.
Sometimes, I long for the good old days when one pair of glasses was placed firmly on my face, and I could see everything easily.
Here’s looking at you!
I, too, resisted the inevitable until I returned to teaching after maternity leave. My eye doctor had told me that I would only need glasses when I was either watching TV or driving. So… I stopped watching TV and only drove back and forth to school where no one really noticed my “new look!”
Then I hit 40! Suddenly those basal readers seem to be having smaller and smaller print! I became the stereotypical teacher and wore magnified glasses around my neck on a chain.
At home I had those glasses in various locations – near the telephone, my “reading chair”, my recipe card collection, and even (yes, they existed) the phone book! Who was I kidding?!
Finally my eye doctor told me that I needed the dreaded bifocals! I gave up- and since they offered “transition” lenses with a no tell-tale line, I decided that these served TWO purposes: I could now see, and I didn’t have to be concerned with eye shadow or tweezing my eye brows! Since moving to the “Younger Next Year” community, I only remove my glasses to shower and sleep! I might even invest in a pair of prescription sun glasses so I don’t have to wear those “fashionable” huge things that fit over your regular lenses! Life is great!
Ah yes. I always envied the girls who got to wear the cute glasses…. until I hit 40 and needed them! Maybe this is easier if you grow up with them, I don’t know. I tried the no-line bi-focals and found out what sea sick felt like!!
After moving to Florida I invested in the transition lenses. They just don’t get dark enough for this bright sun!! So, I tried contacts…has anyone else tried the bifocal contacts??? the eye doctor told me, if you need to see close up, just shine a flashlight in your eye to contract you pupil, then it will be just fine. She’s got to be kidding! My eye doctor has also warned me the cataracts are building….can’t wait for that fun!
I should have appriciated my eye sight more when it was great. Now I’ll just be pleased I can still see!
Welcome to the glasses brigade. I’ve worn glasses, the coke bottle kind since 4th grade. No vanity allowed, as I couldn’t see to read or walk across a room. Total loss of eyesight is one of the scariest things I can imagine.
I use the bi-focal contacts now but they aren’t perfect. I can almost see distant things and almost read regular print. Hopefully the cataract surgery will resolve some of that some day. I’ll check with you for advice on that.
Thanks for your comment, Ginger.