You’re not getting older; you’re getting better!
It’s one of the telltale signs of aging.
Since I was 14, I’ve worn corrective lenses for distance viewing in the form of spectacles or contact lenses. (I typically wear contacts or prescription sunglasses when I venture out.) Every few years I’ve needed a stronger prescription. Last year I noticed that viewing small print or objects with small detail with my glasses on started to become a bit uncomfortable. “What goes on here,” I wondered.
A couple of weeks ago, my eye doctor confirmed my suspicions. I needed…bifocals!!!
I knew it was coming. My mother said that seemingly overnight, after she turned 40, she needed reading glasses. (Most people I know over 40 need reading glasses.) Before that, her vision was 20/20. My brother, one of my sisters, and I inherited near-sightedness from our father (who needed but didn’t wear glasses), apparently. Now I, the eldest Barber child, must wear…bifocals!!!
Actually, they’re progressive lenses: extra thin lenses with no lines. Whew! No one will ever know — except a few thousand LBC readers — that I’m wearing…bifocals.
My formerly near-sighted sister had Lasik surgery last year, and she loves the results. During the holidays, she laughed a couple of times as she watched me squinting around, looking for my glasses. I’d have the surgery done, too, only I’m afraid I’d become the first Lasik patient rendered blind from the procedure. 
Well, that’s a bloody nice way to start the weekend! Commiserate with me and share your “aging” stories. For example, how did you feel when you found out you needed reading glasses?
