As I See It

"Susan is thrilled. She has never been so happy!" my brother's booming voice told me on the phone, "She just loves her glasses, and says she will never be without them!"

Yes, my niece, so like me, was 10 years old, and her father had noticed her squinting and holding books right up to her face. He took her for testing, and sure enough, her vision was impaired with astigmatism, the same problem my brother and I share. His relating the story of Susan and her delight at having clear vision caused me to remember my experience of getting eyeglasses when I was four years old.

When we left the building with me wearing those brand-new glasses, I stumbled on the steps, the way you stumble when you misjudge the distance from one step to another. Strong arms reached out and broke my fall, and after that I was on my way.

The gravel on the road looked so clear, I could see each little rock, see the letters on the sign outside a church, and it was nothing short of an actual miracle for me. I could see! I didn't know whether to talk about it or not. I would have so much to observe now, so many books to look at over and over, and I would never have to squint at things and get a sore head because it was so difficult to see. Yes, the man my parents had taken me to had tested me, diagnosed the problem, and changed my life forever, and I was absolutely awestruck.

Never mind the other kids calling me "four-eyes," I loved those eyeglasses. I was just four years old, and I can still remember the feeling of sheer bliss.

Before my glasses, I could see "TIME" on the TIME magazine, and sometimes the bigger letters inside, but I could never see the regular size letters because they were all fuzzy and so were the pictures. I knew the alphabet at that age, so my parents could easily test me with letters, and they came to realize that I had a definite problem with my vision. Dad would read a magazine and I would marvel that he could do that! I loved books, and I worried that I was never going to be able to read on my own. My favorite thing to do was to sit beside mom or dad, and have them read and help me to read, but it was so difficult.

What if I could never do it by myself? The imaginings of a child are very real and very scary, and I remember those fears so well.

The day the eyeglasses came all was put to rest, I could actually see all sorts of things I had never seen before. Even writing about it makes me tingle inside with the joy I felt that day. I could see, and see clearly! Now that I had the glasses, I could see the pictures in the magazines, the numbers on the calendar, and even the writing on the nickels and dimes. I tell you I truly believed I had been given a miracle. Never once would I have to be reminded to wear my spectacles, and never once did I whine about having to wear them. Not once, not to this day, and I am now 57 years old.

Yes, to me, it has always seemed miraculous. Now Susan feels she has been given a miracle! My sincere desire is that she, at the age of 57, can feel as I feel, and remember the day her dad took her to get her first pair of glasses, and remember her dad saying, "Susan loves her glasses, I never have to remind her to wear them!"

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