I guess that each milestone birthday as we age is marred by unexpected challenges. The arrival of the AARP card certainly doesn’t cushion the blow, but we manage to move forward. So, as we approach Brian’s big 5-0, I chuckle as he went through the process of getting glasses. Because of his diabetes, he goes to the eye doctor annually. Every year he “brags” about his perfect eyesight as I have been wearing glasses for twenty years and have possessed, my adorable bifocals for at least ten of them. A couple of weeks ago, he texted me that he was now the proud recipient of a bifocal prescription and proceeded to try on the glasses at the doctor’s office. For a good five minutes, he took selfies of each pair of vision enhancers and for a good five minutes I told them they were all hideous. Remember that old guy on that amusement park commercial with the big black glasses? That is what my spouse resembled. Finally, after numerous texts, I finally convinced him to go somewhere else where they would be able to fit him correctly. And, a miracle happened…….. he listened.
Yesterday, he came home with his new facial accessory and looked so handsome. Now, if you have had bifocals, you understand the adjustment it takes to wear them. Brian kept looking me up and down which, even with my husband of 26 years, was creepy. I told him that he might not want to do that at work since it might warrant a sexual harassment suit.
It was adorable that he realized how bad his eyes must have been when he watched television last night and saw the screen was clear and colorful. I, too, had that same enlightenment, expect in the form of thinking my house was cleaner, but my new glasses shared the reality. Sometimes I walk around my house without my glasses, so I can live in thick denial and rationalize not cleaning.
Aging is inevitable, but embracing the accessories that sometimes come with it certainly allows us to be grateful that we get to grow old. It is a right of passage not guaranteed for everyone.
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