Funny thing happened today: I inherited my Mom’s eyes.
My parents had eye sight from opposite ends of the spectrum: Dad was horribly myopic, and Mom was slightly farsighted. My sister inherited Dad’s eyes: she was legally blind (without her glasses) before she entered high school. I was slightly nearsighted in middle school.
I got my first glasses–big, pastel plastic owl-eyed lenses–in 1983. My second pair of glasses–brown/gold wire-rimmed L.A. Gear frames — in college in 1991. My prescription had only minimally changed. I was still legal to drive without glasses.
Lately, I’ve had frequent headaches, even bordering on migraines. I chalked it up to sinus headaches and migraines (something else inherited from my parents), and didn’t consider eye strain.
Two weeks ago, I had a stye on the inside of my eyelid. Very painful. The opthamologist gave me an eye drop prescription and asked me to come back in two weeks to make sure it had healed. I went ahead and scheduled a full eye exam–complete with those nasty eye-dilating drops.
Sure enough, my prescription had changed. My old glasses weren’t helping me because I wasn’t nearsighted any more. I was now minimally far-sighted just like Mom when she was my age.
I have my third pair of glasses (smaller, fashional burnished copper frames). Suddenly my computer screen is easier to read. Reading time is cut in half because I don’t have to focus so hard to figure out what is on the page.
And the best thing? Very few headaches.
