SEEING IS BELIEVING

Last night I realized that I am down to my last contact lens. I go to the eye doctor about every three years and return when I run out of all the lenses he gives me. I use the extended wear version and make them go as long as possible. But thinking about my eyes reminds me of how I began wearing glasses in the first place.

When I was in the fourth grade and BJ in the seventh we would find any excuse to get out of class. We both had teachers whom we didn’t like, so one time we decided to pretend to be sick at the same time so we could go to the “clinic,” which consisted of an army cot in the main hallway. Somehow we were able to pull it off; I told my teacher I had a headache, and I don’t know what excuse she used. But we both ended up on the cot at the same time.

I think we were able to pull this off twice if I remember correctly, and it proved to be so effective for me that I used it several more times without BJ.

Well, of course, this tactic to get out of class was not going to last forever, and the principal or teacher told my mother that perhaps I needed to have my eyes examined. I felt very guilty about Mother’s taking me to the ophthalmologist but I was stuck --- either I admitted I was lying or I had to go along with the scheme.

So off I went, (hopefully during school hours so I could miss more of her classes) to undergo all the eye tests. And you guessed it!! I did need corrective lenses; I was slightly nearsighted with astigmatism in both eyes. I’ll never forget the first time I put on my new glasses --- I could see the outlines of the leaves on the trees!! I was so surprised; I had had no idea that I couldn’t see perfectly.

But I hated wearing glasses. I only wore them to read or watch movies and later to drive. When I began to play tennis at aged 30, the glasses were really a pain with all the steaming up, etc., so that’s when I started on the contact lenses. Then I turned the magic age of 40 when everyone’s eyes suddenly shut down, and I went to one contact for distance and my other eye needs nothing. To read I wear reading glasses that I buy at the Dollar Store. My eyes have not changed in 28 years and I expect them to be the same when I go back next month.

I wonder how long I would have gone without being able to see if I had had a teacher I liked in the fourth grade!