In Focus

Reading glasses are being held up by my nose and ears.  I am a proud owner of reading glasses.  From now on, this next stage of my life I will forever be relying on reading glasses.  CVS Pharmacy, $9.99. Pretty, lightweight, eye captivating.  I'm thrilled about this.  I am 47 years old (almost 48) and I finally admit to the fact that I need glasses.  Need, cherish, desire, cuddle, coddle, always know where they are and slightly panic when they aren't where I put them.  The only thing that could be better than reading glasses would be, um, pick carefully Bridget, umm, okay, getting a tummy tuck is an absolute close second.  Or, oh, I know, not ever having to color my hair again. That would be awesome. 

I am relieved to be embacing glasses.  Who says girls without glasses don't get passes?  Exactly.  Well, I'll only have these glasses on when I am reading or at the computer. I remember when my parents both got drugstore glasses.  There was a drawer full I think until my Dad had to get a proper pair. Same for Mom.  She had big "Jackie O" glasses and sunglasses (I've kept her sunglasses just to have).  The sunglasses were worn from April till October during the years we lived in Wildwood Crest.  She had a great irish tan, every freckle connected to another, well until you hit the eyes.  She looked like an owl.  I could have put her on the roof to keep the birds away like they do now with the fake ones you see at the shore.  Reddish-brown and then stark white.  With pretty blue eyes poking through it all.  Now my Dad had a voracious  appetite for reading. Every book that made its way into our house would eventually lay open on the kitchen table while he was cooking or on the bedside table and floor. Initially, the number of pairs of glasses he had were just a couple, and then as I informed you earlier, a drawer full.  Then it came down to the upstairs/downstairs pairs.

My children have now stated that I am old.  Old looking.  So old that if my hair was short, I would look exactly like my mother.    Now they knew mom when she was the cranky, silly Grammy.  They laugh at me, at the way I now look.  This is it from now on.  Glasses are part of my everyday wear.  The practicality of wearing reading glasses far outweighs what anyone in my family could utter.  I feel less encumbered.  The decision was put on the back burner for too long and I now can't believe how free I feel.  This could come to a screeching halt if I lose them.  In that case, I'm heading back to CVS to buy two or may a drawer full of glasses for the future.  I do lose everything from time to time.