For the last 48 hours or so I have been strutting with my new eyeglasses – which the lady at Lens Crafters dubbed “the Cadillac of Eyeglasses,” with a price tag to match. But when you get to be half a century old like I am, glasses are one thing in which cutting corners is not a good idea. So I went for it, sincerely grateful all the while that it was even possible for me to do so and cognizant that many people are in no position to even consider doing such a thing.
First, a word about what happened to my previous glasses… although it’s a story that almost feels like the kernel of a Twilight Zone episode. A week ago Monday, Kathy and I drove back from Madison in heavy snowfall and had some major digging out to do when we got home. Once I was done with the snow blowing and other necessary errands and had pulled our red car into the driveway, I tiredly yanked the hood of my parka down, and somehow my glasses must have been caught on them because they went flying off of my face. And mind you, I’m still sitting behind the steering wheel of the car- with the car still running- and I’m suddenly blind. I turned off the ignition, gingerly exited the car, and proceeded to look for my glasses ….. to no avail. I eventually ran up to the bedroom, grabbed my spare pair off of the nightstand, and resumed the search – but to no avail. And we STILL have not found the glasses, almost two weeks later. It’s as though they disintegrated into thin air.
I knew that I could clunk along fairly well with my old glasses, except that the Carthage Choir had this really important performance coming up at the WCDA convention, and the thought of playing those demanding accompaniments with ratty old eyeglasses that barely stayed on my face was not pleasant. So Wednesday morning I carved a little time in my schedule and paid a visit to Lens Crafters, where Kathy and I together picked out new frames (I have a terrible time with that on my own) and decided to pretty much go with every special feature offered: transition lenses (meaning they automatically lighten and darken according to whether or not you’re inside or outside) with a special no-glare coating – plus a different shape to the bifocal lens which makes them a little easier to read through. But then after all that and the check had been written and signed over came the unwelcome news that you don’t get the Cadillac of Eyeglasses “in about an hour,” – as their ads so smugly state – but rather in 7 to 10 days. So after all that, I still had to play the Green Bay concert feeling like Mr. Magoo. Groan.
But as of two days ago I have my new glasses and it feels so wonderful to see clearly again- reminiscent of the amazing sensation I had back in high school when I got my first new glasses in several years and had that “Incredible! I can see the leaves on the trees” experience that I’m sure a lot of you have had. But I have to say that part of my pleasure with these new glasses is tied up in a deep-seated fear I have about the fragility of my eyes and my eyesight. I couldn’t tell you how bad my eyesight is by any sort of numerical designation, but when I have no glasses on and am asked to look at the eye chart on the wall, I can’t make out a single thing…. including the giant E at the top. And when I sit in the chair and the optometrist is slipping a series of lenses in front of my eyes, asking over and over “which is better, A or B?” I used to have this disconcerting fear that he or she would run out of lenses before we got my eyes to 20/20. “Sorry,” I could imagine them saying, “that’s the strongest we got. Take it or leave it.” I’ve gotten over that fear pretty much, especially since my eyesight has pretty much stabilized. But then a couple of appointments ago, the eye doctor noticed that my macula is a slightly odd color (more orange than is usual) which is no cause for worry in and of itself, but still something to watch. And over the years, I’ve suffered through several bouts of Iritis – an inflammation of the Iris – which are incredibly painful. So for me, going to the eye doctor almost feels like going to the dentist – clammy hands and all- and why when I walk out of there seeing the world clearly, I always have this tremendous sense of relief and gratitude.
All this talk about glasses and eyesight makes me think about the blind people I’ve known in my life — beginning with a Luther student named Dave Qualley who tuned our piano in Decorah. He was in our home any number of times and it was so good for my sibling and I to be around someone blind and see how amazingly well he functioned. I also remember very early in my childhood knowing a wonderful woman named Betty who was the sister of our dear family friend Joyce Farr. Betty was blinded at a very early age- if I remember the story correctly, she was blinded when an inebriated doctor or eye doctor put the wrong kind of drops into her eyes. But Betty was a vibrant, joyous person- with a beautiful soprano singing voice- and sang all kinds of inspiring concerts throughout the Midwest. One of the stories the family love to tell was of an occasion when Betty was getting ready for a concert- dressed to the nines- and when she walked into the living room, she was covered with a strange white substance. “Betty! What in the world did you do?!” It turned out that she had grabbed what she thought was a can of hairspray that in fact was Christmas Tree Snow. The best part of the story is how uproariously she laughed about it, both then and for the rest of her life. What an example she was to everyone who knew her of how to take a tragic and needless injury and not be embittered by it. If anything, that loss of sight opened the door to untold joys and blessings that she might not otherwise have enjoyed. Finally, I think of a blind young man at Luther who I didn’t know well but who was an inspiration to me, all the same. He was a very close friend of the general manager of KWLC, and I can remember going to a movie with them where Kim lean towards him (was his name Tom?) and quietly explain the action on the screen that would be crucial to him understanding what he was only hearing. I loved his spirit – and also her attentive, loving friendship.
My cousin Sigri Dorholt writes a wonderful blog, and every entry ends with a list of things for which she is especially thankful, pertaining to whatever she just wrote about. It’s a great exercise, which on this occasion I want to copy. 1. I am thankful for my eyes and for the gift of eyesight. 2. I am thankful that I’ve had just enough problems with my eyes over the years to be more mindful of this blessing than I would otherwise be. 3. I am thankful for the inspiring blind people I’ve known. 4. I am thankful that I live in a time when so much can be done to safeguard our sense of sight and give us visual clarity not otherwise possible. 5. I am thankful that I can walk into Lens Crafters and not have a heart attack when presented with the bill. 6. I am thankful to live in a world where there is so much beauty to see. and finally 7. I am thankful to no longer feel like Mr. Magoo. . . not when I have my new Cadillac!