Reading Glasses

People raise an eyebrow when I say I have over a dozen pairs of reading glasses. “I just forgot to bring one today.”


(Not in photo are those I have on and those left in the places I frequent: church, school, vehicles, and maybe even the supermarket)

Who’d be crazy to have these many reading glasses anyway?

Me.

The one thing that upsets my equilibrium (aside from dry faucets and toilets that don’t flush) is leaving my reading glasses at home. I panic when I can’t find one in my purse.

Without them I can’t read a thing within two feet away—and that’s practically everything I live for: books, computers, newspapers, cell phone, and labels in supermarkets.

To solve this problem, I amass as many pairs as I could and strew them all over the house: bathroom, bedroom, terrace, computer room, kitchen, Tony’s Elvis room, on the piano, on the TV set, in Tony’s car, in JC’s car—everywhere! When I lose one, I immediately buy a replacement, or two.

And yet, there are days when I leave them all behind. Age? Rush? Feeble mind? Fuzzy brain?

All of the above.

Once I was in school for my Marketing class, and no glasses. I looked for someone who had a pair I could borrow. All the faculty members at that hour were at least twenty years my junior so no one needed reading glasses. All afternoon, I was at the mercy of my students. Someone had to read my text messages, the lessons, the attendance sheet, the test scores, etc, etc. It was their lucky day, I didn’t have the eyes to nit-pick over their seat work.

Eyeglasses holder? I lose them, too.

On those I-forgot-to-bring-glasses days, I thank the Lord for the grace of seeing. Although my eyes have grown dim for close range reading, I can still see clearly everything around me with 20/20 vision.