Monday's Memory

When Brooke was in 3rd grade, she told my mom she couldn't see very well. However, a trip to the eye doctor proved that she in fact had perfect eyesight.

Those who know my sister know how persistent she can be (a talent she has had since a remarkably young age), and it took two more trips to the optometrist before my mom realized Brooke just wanted glasses. I think even today Brooke has better than 20/20 eyesight.

Fast forward 2 years, when the poor neglected middle child (me) began talking of blurry vision at the exact same age Brooke had become obsessed with glasses- ok, not really neglected, I just have a serious case of middle child syndrome.

But mom had been through this before, and she would not be tricked again. She knew it was a ploy, that glasses were considered stylish, and she was NOT about to spend the money to go through the same thing again.

Unfortunately for me, mom didn't realize how completely unaware I was of the fact that eye glasses were "in", or any fashion for that matter. I really could not see ANYTHING!!! I found ways to cope...for example: if I squinted my left eye just small enough and crossed my right eye just far enough I could kind of make out what was being written on the chalkboard.

One day, Mrs Kirsten (the SCARIEST 3rd grade teacher the world has ever seen) got tired of me asking to sit closer to the board and yelled, "IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE BOARD, GO TO THE EYE DOCTOR!!!!"

Through my tears, I told her (in no doubt the most pitiful voice imaginable), "My mom won't take me."

I don't remember what happened next, I think she sent me to the nurse to check my eyes, and a note got sent home that basically said your kid can't see, get her some glasses.

The day I got my glasses was a day I will NEVER forget. They were HUGE and PINK and I LOVED THEM!!!!! As memorable as huge, pink glasses are, the unforgettable part was the drive home.

I sat in the passenger seat with my face pressed against the window. The ride home was filled with my exclamations of joy, "I CAN SEE LEAVES ON THE TREES, NOT JUST THE COLOR GREEN" and "I CAN READ THE BILLBOARD, IT SAYS..." I also recall being amazed by individual blades of grass, and the array of colors that made up the tiles of the school hallway- which I previously thought were just brown.

Bless mom's heart, she felt pretty bad when the doctor told her I had the worst eyesight of anyone who didn't already have glasses he had ever seen. Blind as a bat took on new meaning that day! She can't be blamed though, which you understand if you have ever come into contact with the persistence of Brookey Babe! (Don't worry Brooke, it is usually a good thing to have persistence...unless it is combined with your ability to act blind and a younger sis who actually IS blind : } )

Despite how it sounds, I am actually really grateful for this memory. Not only is it something I like to tease mom about, I consider myself lucky to have been old enough to remember the first time I really saw the world around me...how many people can say that???

I didn't have a picture of my actual glasses, so I drew some on so you could have a small taste of the beauty the world beheld for the first time that glorious day in 1993.