Don’t remember since when I have been squinting my eyes. It might be the 5th grade, or it might be 3rd. On the old H.S. photos I don’t wear glasses, but on the one taken my freshman year at the first college I do. It always been a nuisance at best, and undesirable distinction at worst. With years my nearsightedness worsened, making wearing of glasses an all-day affair. I have friends and colleagues that don’t remember me without the glasses - the ridiculous alien concoction became part of my body, of the image people associate with me. Change of frame brings “you look so different”s, as if I colored my hair fire-red or shortened my nose. The bigger the negative numbers on my prescriptions grew, the smaller my eyes looked, behind the lenses. Festive occasions have always been a disappointment to dress for - spectacles ruin effect of bare shoulders and carmined pout. Contacts don’t do it for me - I was told I don’t have enough natural tears (not anymore, anyway), and to use artificial ones I’d have to stop for drops every 15 minutes.
Yesterday I got a new pair of eyes.
