Thursday, September 2, 2010

Glasses

I got my new glasses today. Last week I went in for the eye exam. It had been 5 years since my last visit--things just came up in life that prevented me from going sooner and to be honest I wasn't in a big rush. I know that my glasses are never cheap and I hate trying to choose frames. The last place I went to wasn't very helpful when I asked them to help me pick out frames; they told me that it was really up to me and what I liked. What!?! Apparently they must have thought that my prescription wasn't that bad and that when I'm trying on the frames without my glasses on that I can see perfectly well. Apparently the coke bottle lenses in my old glasses and the prescription in their hands weren't bad enough to warrant their help. So I did the best I could. I didn't hate them but it's really hard to see what looks good when you are literally inches away from the mirror. When Steve said that I should go get glasses before the year ended to use up the flex spending money I was excited to go but I didn't want to go to the same place as before. We don't have insurance that covers glasses so I wanted a place that was affordable yet helpful. Steve helped me search online for places that were close and had good reviews. I asked friends in the area. We had it narrowed down to two places and I went with the cheaper eye exam place after driving by and making sure it wasn't like our ghetto dentist experience. I had the exam and the doctor was nice and said my eyes hadn't changed too much--always good to hear when you have eyes like mine. Then we went out to look at frames. From 20 plus years of experience I know that I need tiny frames that are more circular to help hide the fat lenses. I found quite a few but then I was in the position I was in before--needing help to see what actually looked alright on me. The lady came back and I asked if she would help me and she said that she would certainly help me and then told me that she would be brutally honest. I told her I liked that because I couldn't see and needed her to tell me what she thought. She hated the first pair (which was fine by me as they were most expensive) and liked the middles ones alight and really liked the last two. She then called over the other lady in the office to ask her opinion. They both thought the ones that I had on were the best option and liked it with my coloring. Today I picked them up and am trying to adjust to the new prescription. It's amazing how different things appear right now--more in focused and vibrant. I remember when I first got glasses I stepped outside the office and I could see individual leaves blowing on the trees something that I had never recalled seeing before. I still find a tree and look at the leaves every time I get a new pair of glasses and am thankful that even though I might not have the literal eyes to see such beauty that I can have the opportunity to have glasses that will allow me to see those things. Each time I get new glasses I donate an old pair so that someone in some country that hasn't before seen the individual leaves on trees blowing for quite some time can now see the sight that thrilled me over 24 years ago and for which I'm continually thankful for being able to see.

2 comments:

Carl said...

I totally understand. Isn't it amazing the small things that seem to be taken for granted until they are gone?

Jennifer said...

Hi, Tressa! What fun to peek in on you and glean your humble wisdom. This was a great post for me to read. I generally focus (ha ha, no pun intended!) on how much I hate wearing glasses instead of being grateful for vision correction. Seems like your family is doing well. I wish you the best!

Jennifer Hatch (from your old ward)