When I was three years old, I got eyeglasses--it's probably my earliest memory. They were blue and tiny and I had to be careful with them. I wasn't.
I hated being tethered to the glasses but it was far worse to be without them and unable to see anything. Despite loving to swim, when I took off the glasses and dove in, I was alone and confused by the crowd in the pool. When I went to sleepover parties or camping, the glasses were forever getting stepped on while I slept. When I turned into a teenager and worried about clothes and boys and hairstyles, I longed to have a boy look into my eyes and tell me how beautiful they were. It never happened, my glasses were too thick and without them I had a very unappealing squint.
One of my many eye deficiencies is a serious astigmatism. During my teenage years when I
longed for contact lenses to solve my social insecurities, the science was not developed enough to make contact lenses for people with my degree of astigmatism. Finally, when I was 22 years old, I was able to get my first pair of hard contacts. I loved them--suddenly I wasn't the girl in glasses any more.I wore my contacts faithfully for 26 years, then this past June I lost one. They were expensive gas permeable lenses and I thought--hey I'm 48, I don't care about being cute any more and maybe it's time to go back to glasses. So, I did. What I had forgotten about glasses is how they fog up when you are hiking up a mountain in the rain. I had forgotten that they get in the way of kissing. I had forgotten how they get smudged and how I had a constant dull headache when wearing them.
So yesterday, I went back to my eye doctor. It was the first exam in three years and while my astigmatism has continued to get worse--technology had caught up to me and he was able to fit me into the most comfortable contact lenses ever and here's the kicker--I can sleep in them! For the first time in my life, I woke up this morning and could see.
Oh, Happy Day!!!
12 comments:
Yay Beth!! What a joyful moment that must have been! :c)
And kiss again without interference. Good for you. Have a great week. Pappy
I have never needed glasses but my husband and three girls all are quite impaired without them. Contacts have come a long way since the hard glass disks that stood out on the eyeball.
It is a happy day! I remember my first day in contacts, it was amazing. Thankfully technology has kept up with my decreasing vision, I would be hard pressed to trade my contacts for anything. Welcome to the club!
You are right, Beth, that glasses are a pain. I haven't worn mine as long as you have yours, but I don't think I could handle contacts. I blink at the slightest speck in my eye, and then both eyes get to blinking.
Sometimes I curse the NEED for glasses--I am forever "losing" mine--but I don't mind actually wearing them.
I, too, have the wonderful astigmatism, but never chose contacts -- and have been wearing them since I was a teen.
I knew my daughter had attained some maturity, when she began wearing her glasses all the time, rather than stashing them in her purse, and squinting, which, to me, is a much more annoying look than wearing the glasses :)
Isn't technology wonderful! My daughters both wore glasses and would reach for them even before getting out of bed. I had to laugh about the 'kissing'-hadn't thought about that problem. But I am glad it is sloved and most of all, glad you can see again.
I'm clapping for you! I didn't need eyeglasses until I was a young adult and in my thirties I switched to soft contact lenses and wore them for 14 hours a day until a few years ago. The bi-focal became more important to me...
My husband would relate very well to your story as he started wearing eyeglasses at age four and has probably broken two dozen pairs since then ;-)
I'd love to wake up one morning and SEE.
Congratulations, Beth!
I didn't need glasses until I hit 40, it's been downhill ever since. Especially for reading:(
Hurray! I'm so pleased for you. I can't see without my glasses, although my sight is improving, has done in the last one year. When I got glasses at seven I was told that when I was 40 I 'might not' need them anymore... 40...might...
not very hopeful or within timely reach. I don't think I could go through the trauma of contacts. I'm quite squeamish about my eyes.
I'm glad you are happy :) Now you can see your mornings again!
The fog has been lifted. Good for you. Carey
I can relate to that. I hated glasses and had gas permeable contact lenses until my dry eye got too severe. Now it's bifocals for me. But I do understand how happy you are...Michelle
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