The boy who wore glasses

Reading through some old blog posts tonight night I was somewhat surprised to discover that it’s now exactly two years since I began wearing glasses. The actual anniversary is Wednesday.

It was early in March 2009 that I first became conscious of a deterioration in my eyesight. I first noticed it when I began to struggle reading in bed at night, when suddenly the light wasn’t bright enough. And when I began to notice text messages were a little blurry, and that I needed to extend my arm quite a distance before I could read what they said.

The clincher came on a Wednesday night at the pub when I mentioned to friends that I was beginning to notice the change. As my friend Graeme pulled out his glasses (mostly for reading), I asked him if I could try them on. And as soon as I did, I noticed suddenly that everything in the short-distance (about two feet) suddenly became clear again. OMG.

A couple of weeks later I went for an eye test which revealed my left eye was marginally better than my right, and that although I definitely had a need for reading glasses, I could also benefit from something for longer-distances also. At the recommendation of the optometrist who I went to a few days later, I settled on multi-focals. “We don’t call them bifocals anymore” he joked.

At first it was weird to walk, as I looked down and the ground seemed closer than it should. Things quickly settled down.

A couple of years down the track and I suspect my eyesight has probably deteriorated a little more, though I’m not sure how much of that has to do with the glasses and how much it has to do with the ageing process more generally.

I still like the style of the glasses I have very much, and I’ve kept them in pretty good shape, thanks to good maintenance and cleaning practices. At some point, I’m sure, it will be time for a “fashion update” though I have no plans to do that at this stage.

Best of all? I’ve yet to have one of those “where are my glasses?” moments, only to discover they’re sitting on the top of my head. I might be getting older, but at least that hasn’t happened yet.