Eyes

Yesterday afternoon I stayed in a darkened room resting my eyes. They were painfully sensitive to light and weren't working too well after a routine exam by my ophthalmologist. The exam revealed that other than normal deterioration due to aging , whatever that means, my eyes are fine. A day of not being able to see well did make me appreciate the blessing of sight.

In her later years my mother was blind. She lost her vision, but never her sense of humor. One day I found my blind mother sitting at her vanity gazing into the mirror. When I asked what she doing she replied that she was appreciating the benefits of blindness. “I used to look into this mirror and saw a wrinkled old woman whose hair was never quite right. Now, I look into the mirror and I don't see a wrinkle or blemish of any kind. I can't see a single hair out of place. I conclude that blindness has just made me beautiful.” She, in fact, did radiate a beauty far beyond what could be seen in the mirror.

Not long before mom completely lost her sight I did something terrible to her. She lived in an assisted living home in California. I had flown from Maryland to spend a few days with her. I had shared her room in the facility and we had had a great visit. Leaving was always tearful and difficult. So after a weepy hug and good-bye I grabbed my reading glasses from the nightstand and hurried to catch my ride to the airport. As I settled into the plane for the flight home I pulled out my reading glasses and discovered that I had grabbed mom's very strong glasses instead. When I put them on the world became a fuzzy blur. In an age before cell phones I couldn't call her until I arrived home that evening. Meanwhile my mom, not knowing her glasses had been taken, put on my reading glasses thinking they were hers. She could not see anything. The doctor had previously told her that her retina were slightly detached and that it was possible that the complete detachment could happen suddenly. If that happened she would suddenly lose her vision. She thought that was had happened. She called my sister-in-law who called the doctor. He though it sounded as if the retina had detached and scheduled Mom for surgery the next morning. My sister-in-law went to stay with her and take her to surgery the next morning. They were getting ready for bed when I called and told her that I had accidentally switched glasses with her. I didn't understand her laughter and crying. I returned her glasses by overnight mail. She could miraculously see again as well as before. The surgery was canceled. She forgave me and we laughed about the day she went blind for years afterward.