These Eyes

I turned forty once. Not that long ago. Well not that long ago considering, one year to forty seems like nothing.

Anyway I turned forty and somewhere about then I noticed that I couldn't see to thread a needle if the light was dim..Then I couldn't see to quilt or cross stitch. I got headaches from trying. I got some cheap reading glasses, in the wrong power and continued, for awhile anyway. Then the season of sitting and waiting at swimming/gymnastics/whatever kid activity gave over to the season of running one kid to one activity followed by another kid to another activity and if I was lucky only driving around once in circles to pick them each up instead of throwing another kids or two into the traffic pattern.

I mostly quit having time to do needlework. I kind of lost interest and just started reading to fill the spaces in between the moments of my busy life.

And I forgot where I put the first pair of reading glasses.

But my eyes didn't forget. They just kept getting slowing worse until my favorite hobby, reading, started to be affected.

The year I turned 44, I talked with the optometrist in the ophthalmologist's office as she measured me for new contacts. She mentioned mono vision contacts as an option. "Some people have problems getting use to them, but you could try them," she said.  I wasn't sure that I was ready. So I just got my normal terribly near sighted/astigmatized correction and I moved on. Things were about the same for about six months and then they got awful.

For those of you readers who are blessed to have "perfect eyesight" and who are still younger than forty, let me explain a little bit. I have near sighted eyes. Which meant when I was younger I could see things, like a book or stitching up close without a problem. I could not see across the room. Additionally I have a fairly severe astigmatism, which adds an extra blur to things. But if I am wearing glasses or contacts, I can see just fine. Or I could until I got into my forties.

You, dear reader, may think that you will never face these problems because you have never had problems seeing. YOU ARE WRONG. Your perfect eyes will, somewhere around age 45, betray you. And you won't be able to read your newspaper, book, kindle, phone, OR eventually computer screen. You will get headaches, and it will stink. You will know you have arrived when you constantly hand your phone/pill bottle/assembly instructions to your child and say, "What does that say?"

I knew that some day I would have to deal with this. This past September the day came along. I just couldn't stand the headaches anymore. I went into the ophthalmologist's office and said, "Tell me about mono vision contacts." And she did.

We determined to make my left eye the far vision eye, and the right eye was the close up worker. I ordered one right contact. And left the office with her advice on making this a success ringing in my mind, "Whatever you do. Don't think too much about it."

So that was my strategy. "Don't think too much about it."
It is a silly strategy, but it worked. When ever my mind seemed to be overloaded by information, I just told it to stop thinking so much about it. And within two days, I had eyes that worked again.

It is great to be able to see. At least until I need trifocals. Do you think I would look funny with a third eye in the middle of my forehead?