Even though technically I have an astigmatism in one eye, I never needed glasses when I was younger. Oh, when I look back I think, hmmm, glasses might have been useful in college. But then again as an art major, maybe not so much.
In any case I didn't get glasses until my late 20s, when I was using computers a lot (Mac 512K, thank you very much) and suffering from eye fatigue. Still, if you asked me about them I would say, oh no, I don't need glasses, they just help me to do my work better.
Yeah, in the way that clear vision will often help a person.
Over the summer Juliette asked me to take her to the eye doctor. I told her I would, but in reality I didn't take her request too seriously. I figured she had seen someone with glasses and wanted them for fashion reasons. Every few weeks or so she would ask again for an appointment. I quizzed her, are you having trouble seeing your homework? "No." Are you having trouble seeing the smartboard? "Um, I don't think so."
"Okay, then you probably don't need glasses."
"I do need them" she said, often enough that I made a mental note to check into this more closely - eventually. Fast forward a few more weeks and she's back at school. We go to the pediatrician for her annual checkup which includes hearing and vision tests. She is healthy, growing beautifully. Great hearing, great kid.
"Great! How's her eye test?"
"Oh! Let me check those results." Cue one very surprised doctor and one very not surprised Juliette.
A visit to the local eye doctor confirmed it: astigmatisms in not one, but both eyes. Far sighted.
She didn't need any help at all to pick out her glasses. She tried on eight pairs and told us exactly which one looked best - a gorgeous pair of electric blue glasses. On the street she gave a running commentary of everything she could "see clearly now." Trees. Cars. Patterns. Us. The world was literally a different place for her.
Juliette loves to come up to me and put her face an inch away from mine. It should be intense eye contact, I know that's what she's looking for, but the truth is that I can't really see her at this distance. In an interesting twist, now that she is able to see clearly, I am losing my vision. Close up like this she's just a happy blur, breathing into my face. Probably smiling but I can't say for sure.
The consequence of losing my detailed vision is that I'm becoming obsessive about details. Normally if I don't tweeze my eyebrows they grow straight across my forehead into a uni-brow. Now that I can't police them, my eyebrows are jumping the border headed for unification. Like weeds taking over the garden, they spread a little more every day.
The only way to see my eyebrows up close is to wear my glasses, but when I wear my glasses I can't get the tweezers close enough to my eyebrows.
Enter the 15x magnifying mirror. Both enemy and friend, I can tweeze my eyebrows with ease, while it reveals new features before which I was blissfully unaware. For example, did you notice I have pores the size of moon craters? That the Rosacea I thought was gone is in reality breaking tiny blood vessels all across my cheeks? I knew about the three hairs that grow out of my beauty mark but I was not at all aware of my moustache. At this terrible distance the bags under my eyes are positively vampiric.
How could you not tell me? Oh! You mean you can't see these things WITHOUT 15x magnification?
Perfect, because I've decided I'm too old and too vain to see myself at this magnification and that failing vision is actually a blessing. Like Diane Sawyer I don't want to go on camera without the special blurry lens. I'm not ready for my close up.
Juliette, on the other hand, is more ready than ever. Oblivious to her good looks, she only cares about what her glasses do for her. She can see. Clearly. For the first time in her life.
I can relate to you on the imperfections under magnification. I see under magnification, a single hair that grows out of my chin, and that totally freaks me out.
Glad you were able to resolve the sight issue for J. Sometimes eye strain/blurry vision is so vague, that you can only feel a kind-of unease, without really knowing what it is.
It must be a different world for her now. Nice.
Posted by: Lakshmi | 04/10/2011 at 06:57 PM
On the street she gave a running commentary of everything she could "see clearly now." Trees. Cars. Patterns. Us. The world was literally a different place for her.
I was 14 when I got my first pair of glasses and I remember this exact same experience. It was so wonderful to be able to see individual leaves on trees and even street signs.
Posted by: Flamingodancer.wordpress.com | 04/11/2011 at 05:32 AM
Of course, you can always do the obvious... Have Juju do your eyebrows! (Cracking myself up.) Love you both!
Posted by: Janis | 04/11/2011 at 03:57 PM