Author's note: some time ago, in one of the old Eye Scene forums, I'd mentioned briefly the profound influence and educational experience I'd received from my very favorite GWG's from my home town, and promised to write this essay. It is true to the best of my memory (remember, this was the mid-5O's) and the Rx's mentioned are very approximate, as of course my optical experience was in a fledgling state, so therefore they are based on applying the knowledge I've gained to my remembrances.

At a very early age, probably 6 or 7, I discovered that glasses were something very special to me and like so many others who make this discovery, was embarrassed by it because it seemed that it would be wrong to feel that way. However, that did not stop me from observing (maybe ogling would be a better word) the all of those around me wearing glasses and especially the girls in our small public school that was entirely contained in one building. A shopping trip to Omaha or Des Moines would drive me to ecstasy, because of the opportunities presented by large numbers of people. A furtive glance at the optical department in the Younkers or Brandeis store when my parent was distracted was heaven sent; but I still had never had any direct contact with, let alone a conversation with, a real live GWG.

In our small grade school there were only about 15 to a class, and it was not until high school when the farm kids graduated from 8th grade at their country school and joined us that we grew to our eventual graduating group of 36. Accordingly, glasses were not prevalent and until middle school only one of us had glasses, and a boy at that. The little town of 900 was an idyllic, safe setting in which to grow up and we "town kids" ran together with 2 or 3 grade levels chumming about during the summer. It was about the time that I first started noticing girls in general, 6th grade or so, that I became aware of Janey and Geri (not their real names, of course) and began an odyssey of optical adventure with them. They were one year behind me and when I spoke to one of them (Geri) for the very first time, it was about glasses. With her small, clear blonde zyl frames and -.75 lenses, she was the starting point.

In fifth grade, Geri was a very small albeit attractive young girl, probably of Danish descent as were most people in that part of Iowa. Janey, her best friend, was tall and large boned with a very pretty face also and I know for a fact she was a Dane as her family was well known in the area. They were both sweethearts, friendly, bright, and very caring girls. It was in the spring, and I was standing in line outside the school next to Geri and boldly struck up a glasses conversation in the manner all adolescent boys do, teasing her about not being able to see without glasses. There was a school car parked next to the building, and I made a remark that she wouldn't be able to read the license plate if she didn't have glasses. She hotly denied that, immediately whipped off her specs, and read the plate to me. I was impressed, but looking back at the situation we were only 10 feet from the license plate, so a -.75 myope would have no problem. She put her glasses back on, the bell rang, and we returned to our respective classrooms.

The next fall, we went to a radical (for small town Iowa, anyway) new concept called a middle school, which lumped 6th, 7th, and 8th graders together in one end of the building. This meant that Janey and Geri were in our home room for a brief time at the start of the school day and then just after lunch, after which we'd all go to our individual classrooms. I had started to notice Janey, but only to the extent that she wasn't wearing glasses and if I'd taken the time to be more observant may have seen the signs of early myopia. Geri had gotten new ones, probably -1.50 or so in the then ubiquitous cat eye shape, with the top of the frame front and the temples black overlaid on clear zyl, and clear zyl bottoms on the frame front. Of course, with the stronger prescription she wore them all the time and they really made a cute girl even cuter. It was at the start of the second semester, during a Friday night basketball game, that Janey came to the forefront of my interest.

Our gym, of the type called a crackerbox because of its size (although to us it seemed huge) had a small stage at one end, directly behind one of the baskets, and that's where we pre-highschoolers sat on hard wooden bleachers. Janey was on the end, Geri was next to her, and I was next to Geri. During a lull, I heard Geri say "Janey, I just don't know how you ever got along without glasses" which of course immediately got my attention. It was my good fortune that we were isolated in that area, and I asked Geri what she meant. Her reply was "haven't you ever seen her squint? She always borrows mine when she wants to see the chalkboard." And about then, my adolescent hormones went directly to warp speed. Trying to contain myself, and probably failing totally, I muttered something like oh really, when, etc. and Janey said "my folk are taking me to the eye doctor tomorrow in Guthrie Center (the next little town over) and I guess I'll have to start wearing glasses". I again stuttered words to the effect that she would look very nice in them while she just kind of shrugged, and then went off in search of a cold shower.

The memory fades a bit at this point, as I don't remember seeing her new glasses until some time later, but I do remember that occasion. Standing at the back of the study hall before school started after lunch, I looked down at a desk cluttered with books, papers, and pencils, and there neatly folded was a pair of chocolate brown cat-eyes, with little sparkles at the temples. While I was pondering how to get a closer look at them without being noticed, Janey swept up from behind me, gave the front of the room a big squint while she reached down for her glasses, and slipped them on to see the board. She wheeled and left the room as abruptly as she had entered, and about all I could discern was that they were minus lenses (as expected) with a bifocal! I managed to stumble from the room heading for my classroom, and as I walked by hers, she was sitting next to Geri wearing the glasses, looking down at papers on a desk, as if she'd worn bifocals all of her life. The bifocals themselves became a topic of conversation for us later.

All of this, of course, merely stiffened my resolve to find out more about these two new found treasures, and fortunately life in a small town lent itself to that very nicely. In the summer, we were dominated by the game of baseball, which we boys played from age 5 on. I was on the midget team by that time, which went up to age 14, but unfortunately was a starter and always played the whole game, which made it hard to watch what was going on in the stands. Janey rarely missed a game, along with a group of the other girls, one of which was my neighbor, generally considered the prettiest girl in town, Mary.

Mary was a year older than myself and lived two houses down, and had a waif-like look with very fair skin, very light blonde hair, and extremely blue eyes. On this day, as the group of girls was strolling to the stands at our small field, I was waiting to take the field while the other team was finishing infield practice and looked up to see Mary wearing a pair of brown cat-eyes which she quickly took off as they approached the bleachers. Of course, they were Janey's. My concentration was shattered, and I'm lucky I didn't take a line drive to the side of my head because from my third base position if I turned my head to the right they were directly behind our bench.

Finally, when we were at bat in about the third inning, I turned around on the bench to see Janey hand her glasses to Mary. Mary slowly and elaborately put them on, and gazed about the field with a big smile on her face. I desperately wanted to watch the scenario longer, but the coach would have crucified me for watching the stands instead of the game. Later, I would learn that was only one of many times people borrowed those glasses, and some of those stories are deserving of an essay on their own.

By midsummer, Janey showed up with a brand new pair of glasses, larger & more square blue, green, and clear plastic but with the same telltale kryptok bifocal segment. By now, she and I had become good friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend mind you, just good friends that liked to spend time with each other on a soft summer night. One evening, we very innocently lay on a blanket in her front yard, looking at a gorgeous full moon, it was not difficult to steer her to the conversation I so much coveted by asking her what the moon looked like without her glasses. She took them off, described it as a soft, fuzzy, round marshmallow with some darker areas on it, and then asked me if wanted to try them. The very first time I would be able to look through a minus lens!

Of course I said yes, and she actually reached over and placed them on me. Even though I wasn't nearsighted, the clarity and contrast were almost overwhelming and I tilted my head back slightly and was looking through the segment. It was the same as not having the glasses on, and I told her so. She laughed and said she knew, the doctor had told her that the power of the bifocal exactly cancelled the power of the top part, that he'd prescribed that in the hopes of preventing her myopia from increasing. I don't remember how long I stared at the moon before reluctantly handing her glasses back, but at that point knew I was hooked. It was also then she told me of the several girls who had tried her glasses and really liked wearing them. I inquired if they wore them to see how they looked in glasses, and she assured me they wanted to wear them because they helped.

I had a small Cushman motor scooter, and she and I went for rides together in the surrounding countryside. It was almost a ritual, every time she'd hop on the seat behind me before she wrapped her arms around my waist to hold on she'd ask me if I wanted to wear her glasses. Some times I would but more often not, but she'd always ask.

to be continued...