Ageing comes for us all, and it expresses itself in many ways. For me, it’s expressing itself through the graying of hair at the temples and the slight bald spot forming on the top of my head (others say they don’t see it, but I certainly do whenever I look in a mirror).
And, as you may have guessed, through failing eyesight.
I’ve been nearsighted since I was seven years old, but lately my vision has reached the point where both the changing shape of my ageing eyeballs and the nearsightedness have combined so I couldn’t really see at any distance. It was a new and relatively inconvenient experience for me to have to take off my glasses so I could read books or use my phone. So, three weeks ago, once my finances had recovered from the tooth extractions I endured earlier this year, I took myself to the optometrist.
The verdict, to no one’s surprise: I needed new glasses. More than that, I had to make a choice: two sets of glasses – one for distance and one for reading – or progressive lenses. After weighing the options (primarily: which of these options could I afford), I chose the former, and paid for two sets of glasses. The place I went to was Vogue Optical, based largely here in Fredericton, and they’ve had a “second pair is free” option for decades. This, I discovered to my delight, also applied to different prescriptions, making the two pairs option much more attractive than the progressive lenses option.
Having two holidays between then and now didn’t help much with the delivery, but the glasses were finished last Wednesday. I’ve been getting used to the new setup since.
And how is the new setup working, one week on, you might ask? Very well, actually! My reading glasses are perfect for working on my laptop, and it’s a relief not to have to squint anymore just to read a book. The distance glasses are taking longer to adapt to; I hadn’t realized just how much effort I’d been putting in to see things at a remove until these glasses made it unnecessary. It’s been a weird feeling, but also freeing.
The downsides are few. Mostly: having to carry two pairs of glasses around with me (shirt pockets are my new best friend) and having to take the time to swap between them when needed (and to know when to swap them).
And, also, seeing that growing bald spot in so much more detail than before.
But that’s a small price for being able to see everything else again.