by Emily Schilling
EditorI just finished deciphering tiny numbers on a spreadsheet, then I edited this month’s Hoosier Happenings listing. Whoa! Let me tell you, that wasn’t easy.
Though I don’t like admitting it, there are times when it’s difficult to read the small print in various reading materials. When I wear my glasses, I’ve been pushing them down the bridge of my nose, especially when I write checks or read a magazine.
Though my days of 20-20 vision were very short-lived (I was 10 years old when I had to get glasses), reaching that stage in my life where I’m both near-sighted and far-sighted has not been easy!
Those magazine articles about 60 being the “new 50,” 50 being the “new 40,” and 40 being the “new 30,” don’t mention that no matter how healthy you are and how great you look, your eyes don’t lie. Unless you’ve had Lasik surgery, a middle-aged person is not going to have the eyesight of a 20-year-old.
There’s a term for the declining vision of those my age and older. It’s “presbyopia,” and it literally means ”elder eye” or “old man’s eye.” How nice! Who cares if 40 is the “new 30” if you have “old man’s eye?”
After several months experimenting with various types of contact lenses, I’m dealing with my “elder eyes” with a technique called monovision. One of my eyes has been corrected to clearly see up close and the other sees far clearly. Somehow, my already overloaded and increasingly forgetful brain has adjusted to this. Through the eyes’ excellent teamworking skills I’m able to not only read what’s on my computer screen, but also discern what’s on a TV screen across the room. It gets strange if I close one eye, though. Depending on what I’m focusing on, things are, well, out of focus!
Interestingly, I learned while renewing my drivers’ license that those with monovision don’t see what others see during the vision test. I had no idea what the guy at the BMV was talking about when he told me to tell him what was in the first column. I couldn’t see the first column at all!
Though having “elder eyes” is not a rite of passage I enjoy, thank goodness through my monovision contacts, glasses I can push down my nose as needed, and some bright-color-framed reading glasses (they’re easy to find), I can see just fine. And as one who’s lived most of my life with bad eyesight may I say, whatever it takes, it’s worth it to have the gift of sight!