meme:100 Things

[avamclean]

My father’s very favorite story to tell of my mother when she was little, even though my father didn’t know her, is that she was terribly nearsighted even as a child. When my mother was in fifth grade her teachers finally noticed that she had extreme difficulty seeing the board so they sent home a note to her parents to take her have her eyesight examined.

They did and once the doctor was able to fit my mother with her first pair of glasses he took her to the door of his office and opened it. He asked what my mother could see now and she replied, “I can see the leaves on the trees.”

My mother had never seen the leaves before, other than in books or on the ground, and this, of course, made my grandmother burst into tears. Apparently my mother had always simply gone up to board in class and written down her assignment and notes during recess and she didn’t like to be a bother at home since she was the oldest of six so she never complained. Instead she suffered in silence and learned to adapt.

My father loves this story and it’s also why I was checked for glasses in third grade once I complained I couldn’t see the assignments on the board.

I’ve had glasses ever since.

Comments

[pprfaith.livejournal.com]

I got my glasses within two months of first grade because I got headaches trying to read the board. They were round and gold and purple and I hated them with the fire of a thousand suns. Today they're chunky and green or purple, depending on what I feel like.

I love my glasses. Glasses are cool. People who wear them are, by default, also cool. Hello, cool person!

[avamclean.livejournal.com]

When friends see my old school photos the call me Harry Potter because mine were always round and different colors: Green, Red, Purples until I finally got plan metal. My parents were not fashion forward plus we couldn't afford the fancy ones.

I do adore my glasses now. I should post a picture of me wearing them. We are cool or sexy libarians as my guy friends like to say. :D

[pprfaith.livejournal.com]

I used to have wire frames, until I discovered plastic in weird colours.

And because my mom is awesome (see different thread ;)), she made this extra insurance thing for me and my sister that pays for new glasses every four years or so. Since my prescription hasn't changed since the last pair of glasses, I now have two pairs to switch out.

Oh, and sunglasses. Don't get me started on sunglasses...

[avamclean.livejournal.com]

I started with weird colors and got mocked terribly for my red ones when I was in little school which lead to the wire ones the next chance I got. Bastard bullies.

I wear aviators that make me look like an asshole. ;)

[pprfaith.livejournal.com]

My favorite pair of shades is aviators. Only around here we call them porno shades.

Funny enough, even the older generation, who has never heard the term before, immediately knows what you're talking about when you use it.

I got bullied, too, for my glasses. Purple and round, come on. In second grade, one idiot kept calling me grandma until I upended my juice bottle on him. Wow, trouble. I think we actually ended up being sort of friends after that, though. Huh.

[polgara-5.livejournal.com]

Awwwww, *loves* its cute that your dad loves that story too. :D

Didn't get glasses until I was in high school and started having trouble seeing the board. Funny how that seems to be a common theme in discovering the need for glasses.

I've always had a wire rim of some sort. I've tried the chunkier plastic ones lately, but my face shape isn't right for them. :(

[avamclean.livejournal.com]

I think so too. He's so cute when he tells it too. :D

Ugh! I can't imagine not getting them until then. I would have walked into posts, *shudders*

I have wire and chunky plastic at the moment. I like the rectangle frames the most.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

Please forgive me, but this made me sniffle a bit. I can't comprehend not being able to see the leaves on the trees my entire life to date and then, suddenly, someone does something and I can see them. I can imagine how incredibly happy your Mom was, bullies be damned (and they all are, at least to me).

My eye sight was always very sharp when I was a kid and it's only as I've gotten older that I need glasses. I hate having to wear them, but I love them to pieces, because I can still see well because of them!

[avamclean.livejournal.com]

It made my grandma cry so I think it's fine to make others do so. I think my mom was just overjoyed so tears weren't going to come for awhile yet. :)

Alas I've never had sharp eyesight. I wish I did and I sometimes, with jealousy, think those with it take for granted.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

My eyesight was never something I took for granted. My Mom was one who had to have glasses her entire life and, even with the glasses, her vision was only 20/40 or so until she had cataract surgery and they fixed nearsightedness at the same time. Having to watch for road signs for her when I was little really brought home to me how great a gift I had in my sharp eyes.

As I've gotten older and lost that, I truly do miss it. My natural vision used to be 20/10 in my left eye and 20/15 in my right and I had no problems reading the smallest text or making out street signs at a significant distance. Now, my eyesight is corrected to 20/20 by glasses and I keep squinting trying to read things I used to be able to and just can't. The itty bitty text in your journal's reply box plays merry Hob and I'm grateful that I can enlarge it because I couldn't read it otherwise.

[coppersinger.livejournal.com]

Awww. I love that you father loves that story.

I was in Grade 2 and when I kept noticing all the nests in the trees. (It was late fall after the leaves had all fallen off the tree.) Of course, I had hideous big plastic no colour frames until I got my first pair of metal ones (Burgundy!) in Grade 6. Then I had muted gold/copper-toned metal pretty much until I bought my current pair which are a very cool purple.