Baby's First Bifocals

Though not in denial of the fact that I've reached middle age, I mostly feel (and I like to think look) young for my chronological age. But there are some things in this "slow slide into decrepitude", as Paul and I like to refer to it, that no amount of lifestyle changes will ever have any control over.

Yesterday I had my annual eye exam. Because I'm cheap, I usually stretch the appointment frequency to every two years, but this year I actually took the doctor's advice and came back after only one year. The reason: last fall, I started noticing that, especially in dim light while wearing my contacts, sometimes it would take a few seconds for my eyes to adjust when reading a restaurant menu or the phone book. Once when writing the mileage in my logbook by the light of the car overhead at night, I just couldn't see well enough to write at all. Paul lent me his reading glasses, and wow! Everything was so big and clear, and it took no effort to see! I realized I've been in denial for quite a while and promptly went to Walgreen's to buy some compact reading glasses that fit in my purse.

When we go out to eat or the theater, now we each don our respective specs to peruse the menu or program. I still feel like I'm impersonating a "young grandma" whenever I do this, a little self-conscious but not unduly upset at this undeniable sign of aging. I've already been practically blind for decades anyway, so it's not that huge of an adjustment. My friends who've already gone through this transition have been known to smile and say, "Our little Karin is growing up."

I got my new glasses prescription yesterday, and for the first time there is a number under the ADD column. +100 is about the mildest bifocal prescription possible--it's like a training bra for reading glasses--but still, it does make it easier to see.

Still, I feel compelled to add, I rode my bike 14 miles round trip to get to my appointment, and still had the energy to ride the 8 mile round trip to work later the same day. And it was all uphill. Both ways.