I had to get glasses when I was in fifth grade.
Believe it or not, I got my glasses and my retainer in the same week, so fifth grade was super awesome for me. But that’s a story for another day.
In 1983, ocular fashion was not, well…fashionable. Glasses were either big and plastic-looking or round and wire-rimmed; but not in a cute way. It’s hard to find pictures of people with glasses in the 80’s where you think, “Wow…those glasses are something!” and the “something” you are thinking of isn’t pretty awful.
By the time I got to high school, stylish glasses still hadn’t be invented, and so when I decided to reinvent my look, during the summer before 9th grade, part of that metamorphosis was leaving the glasses at home.
Did it mean I couldn’t see a darn thing on the board during class? It sure did. Did it mean that my normal klutziness was exacerbated by the fact that I couldn’t see two feet in front of me? I have the bruises and permanent scars to prove it. But did I look good? I have no idea, because my reflection in the mirror was all a big blur.
College rolled around and I finally started to suck it up a little and wear my glasses on occasion. My eyes had gotten worse from strain and so I had to admit that I needed some help if I was going to function day to day.
I went to my eye doctor and said that I was ready for contacts and he smiled and shook his head and said “Contacts aren’t for you, kid.” Something about the shape of my eye or something…they would either adhere too much or not at all. But I thought that was ridiculous. I figured everyone can wear contacts, as long as they know how to put them in and take them out, right? $300 on contacts and a trip to the infirmary to have the nurse peel it from my eyeball told me I was wrong.
So, glasses it was.
Disclaimer: My maturity about needing glasses did not extend to my wedding or my formal wedding photos. I knew what Real Man looked like and felt fairly certain he wasn’t going to swap out with some other guy as I was walking down the aisle. But our candid photos? There’s barely room for anyone else in those pics because my big, round, wire-framed glasses take up so much room.
This is all a fairly common story. 75% of adults in the world need some type of vision correction. I’m not special. I know this.
However, in my family, vision is no joke. My Dad was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration in his 30’s and lost the vision in one eye fairly quickly. He’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop for years, and finally, in his late 70’s, it has begun, but thank goodness, he’s under the care of many specialists who are doing their best work to keep that man seeing everything the world has to see.
So far, I’m not showing signs of MD. The doctor knows the family history and checks every time I’m there. I’m so, so grateful for that.
But, at my last eye doctor appointment, a few weeks ago, my doctor was surprised in the rate of decline I’ve had in my vision since my last appointment, a year and a half ago. In a way, I was grateful to hear him say that. In some part of my mind, I think I thought I was imagining it or that I had just forgotten how my progressive lenses worked. But, after he checked my eyes and I explained that I can no longer play the piano, that ringing my handbell music is almost painful, and that reading has become something of a chore because of the angle I have to hold my head at to see the words, he said that what I was reporting matched with what he was seeing. My prescription has changed greatly, more than he would have anticipated, and I needed new glasses. Immediately.
Knowing there was a fix was such a relief. So I went to the little optician that is housed in my doctor’s office, where I had purchased my last pair of glasses, and handed her the prescription and told her that I needed to have new lenses made for my frames. To which she replied, “Okay, you’ll have to leave your glasses with us for about a week.”
I said “Wait, you have the frames I have on file. Can’t you just order new lenses?” To which she replied, “It doesn’t work like that here. I have to send them out to have the new lenses fitted, especially with this type of prescription.”
I said “I can’t leave my glasses with you. I can’t see without them and my last pair of glasses is now two prescriptions out of date. I won’t be able to see out of them at all.” She looked at me and said “Well, then, if you aren’t going to buy a new set of frames, I really can’t help you.”
Which immediately made me cry. Right there. In the store.
Because I truly cannot see without my glasses. But, at that point, I also couldn’t really see very much even with my glasses. And she couldn’t/wouldn’t help me.
So, I left. And wrote a post on Facebook asking people where the best place to go to get my glasses would be. Without breaking the bank. Because the lenses are already going to be so expensive because of the prescription, but frames are also usually pretty pricey. And money isn’t something that we have a lot of, over here.
People came back with a lot of suggestions, but overwhelmingly mentioned Warby Parker. So, that’s where I went. With their app, I was able to see the frames on my face and then they sent me 5 to try on, free of charge. I picked the frames I wanted, uploaded my prescription, sent back the frames I tried on, and a week later, today, in fact, my new glasses arrived.
It’s no exaggeration to tell you that my hands shook a little as I was opening the box this afternoon. And when I put the glasses on, I teared up and then felt giddy. I ran to the piano and sat down. I can see the music. I picked up a book. I can read the pages. I sat down at this computer to write this blog post and I can comfortably see the screen as I type.
Are there trade-offs? Yep. These glasses don’t have the springs that allow them to bend open a little wider to fit my face, so I’m undoubtedly going to get headaches until I can find someone to safely heat and widen the arms. They also didn’t offer the blue light protection on this prescription, so since most of our schoolwork is now on computers, there will still be some eye fatigue. And they weren’t cheap, but they wouldn’t have been cheap anywhere. I calculated that the cost of these glasses is the equivalent of me teaching 15 piano lessons.
But, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t care about any of that.
Because, for now, I can see again, friends. And that is a gift.
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