"I'm sorry, Bobbi, but I can't renew your driver's license. You failed the vision test and you'll have to get glasses to be able to drive."

"But, but, can I try again?" she said. Still, the result was the same. She could only read the top two lines, which were blurry, and the smaller ones below were just black smudges on a white background, so she left the state office to arrange for an eye examination.

She was a little surprised, but not really. Three years before when she renewed her license she passed the test with ease. Yet, recently, she knew she was having problems reading signs along the road but thought everyone saw the same way. Since her mom wore glasses she went to her home to ask which doctor she should call.

"I guess it runs in the family" her mom said, after calling her doctor and making an appointment. "I became nearsighted about the age you are and have been wearing glasses ever since. They help a lot." Bobbi was 23, had just graduated from college the year before, and was working in an office not far from her downtown apartment.

Bobbi asked "how do they help, I mean, do they just bring things up closer?" Her mom replied "no, they just make everything very clear. You'll really like them. I didn't want them either, but after I got them, I didn't know how I ever got along without them." Bobbi really hated the idea of having to wear glasses; however, since she needed her driver's license, two days later she was sitting in a large chair at the doctor's office getting her eyes examined.

She could read the big E at the top of the chart, and the next two rows of letters which were large, but that was it. The doctor made the letters very, very small, put a large machine in front of her eyes, and began changing lenses. "Which is better, one or two? Three or four?" he intoned, as the soft click each time there was a change signalled a stronger and stronger lens. After quite a few changes, the letters jumped out at her clear, crisp, and black. To her amazement she could read the tiny letters at the very bottom row.

"You are pretty nearsighted for a first prescription" he said as he swung the machine away and the eye chart again blurred into oblivion. Because the brief time she's been looking through the right lenses was so wonderful, she changed her opinion. Now, she wanted glasses, and wanted them right now. After trying on several different frames, she selected some blue, semi-rimless ones that felt light and comfortable on her nose and ears. But she was dismayed to find out it would be a few days before they were in, and wished she'd gone to a one-hour place.

At work the next day, she noticed that the posters on the wall were a total blur unless she got very close to them, and thought the next week would never come. Because she had to work the day they arrived, she arranged for her mother and younger sister to pick them up and bring them to her.

Her sister, who just turned fifteen, brought them to Bobbi, still in their case. She slowly removed them from the case, and sat looking at them, the light reflecting from the lenses. "Put them on, silly" said her sister. "They won't do you any good just looking at them".

Bobbi brought them up to her face, brushing the tips of the temples along her cheeks as the pads came to rest on her nose and the temples over her ears. She was shocked into silence. "It's a miracle!" she finally blurted out. "The whole world is clear, I can not only read the posters on the walls I can see bright colors!." It was interesting now, she thought, that one week ago she didn't like the idea of wearing glasses. Now, she didn't want to take them off as she surveyed the room and looked out the window. For the first time, she noticed that each individual tree leaf could be seen. Before, a tree was just a big green glob.

She wore them all day, only lowering them occasionally to compare how it looked with them and without them. But, by the time she got home, she was a little uncomfortable because they rubbed on her nose and ears, and decided to get them adjusted. The place she got them was at the mall, so she stopped by and picked her sister up to take her along for some shopping.

Bobbi's little sister, Amy, was a perky high school sophomore who looked a lot like Bobbi with her fair complexion, blue eyes, and long blonde hair. She was very popular with the boys, and was looking forward to next year when she could get a driver's license. As they approached the mall, Bobbi exclaimed how nice it was that she could actually read the changeable electronic sign at the front of the mall's parking lot. "Great!" she said. "This weekend is the annual craft show, and I really like to go to that".

"Huh?" was Amy's response. "Where do you see that?" By then, the car had pulled into the main entrance very near the sign. "Right up there" said Bobbi, pointing to the sign. "Oh, oh, now I see it guess I was looking in the wrong place" said Amy.

They got out of the car and as they were walking to the entrance, Bobbi asked her sister to stop, and see if she could still read the sign, which was quite a bit away from them by then. Without thinking, Amy looked in the direction of the sign, and involuntarily squinted. "Ummm, sure, I can see it's about the craft fair" she said and started walking again. Catching up to her at the door, Bobbi said "you shouldn't have to squint you know. I did before I got my glasses. Do you think you may need them too?" It was obvious Amy didn't want to deal with that possibility, as she entered the mall without a word and kept on walking.

The doctor's office was in a chain optical store, and Bobbi and Amy walked up to the dispensing counter and sat down. One of the opticians came up, complimented Bobbi on how nice she looked in her glasses, and then began to do the adjustments. Across the room was an eyechart, and while the optician was doing the adjustments, Bobbi squinted at the chart. She read "E, FP, TOZ, ... " and that was it. "Boy, am I nearsighted. I can only read the top three lines. How about you, Amy?" This time, Amy knew better than to squint, and just said "Oh, I read it all the way to the bottom, no problem" and then got up and left saying she'd meet her sister at the clothing store next door.

Amy was uncharacteristically quiet on the way home, even when they stopped at her favorite place for a dish of custard. Bobbi thought she knew what the problem was. Even though her newly adjusted glasses were very comfortable, and she could see everything so clearly through them, she took them off, placed them upside down on the table, and excused herself to go to the rest room. The rest rooms were around the corner, behind where Amy was sitting, and Bobbi stepped around the corner but turned and peeked back. Luckily, it wasn't far from where their table was or she wouldn't be able to see what she thought was going to happen, and what did happen.

After she was sure Bobbi was gone, Amy tentatively reached across the table, picked up her sister's new glasses, and looked them over very carefully. Actually, Amy thought, they did look cool, but what's the use, she thought, I lied about the mall sign and also the chart at the doctor's office. Actually, the whole chart was fuzzy and she couldn't read the bottom half even though she was standing closer to it than Bobbi was. And, from where she was sitting, she couldn't read anything on the menu posted behind the store counter. I don't want glasses was all that was going through her mind, but nonetheless she held them in front of her eyes and peeked out the window through the shiny lenses. What happened as she viewed the world through the strong glasses shocked and delighted her!

The whole world jumped into focus. Everything, every single thing, was so clear it was almost beyond belief. There was a motel across the street, and with the lenses in place she could clearly read every detail on their sign. While looking at the sign, she pulled the glasses down on her nose and watched it become so fully not only couldn't she read it but the colors actually faded.

Looking around, she replaced the glasses and noted that she could now read all of the menu that before was just a big blur. Bobbi noted her apparent joy with amusement, went on to the rest room, and when she returned to the table saw her glasses were right where she had left them. She put them on, and decided not to bring it up to Amy unless Amy mentioned it first.

To her surprise, several days went by with no mention from Amy of having tried on the spectacles and Bobbi continued to wear them all of the time. They were the first thing she put on in the morning and the last she took off at night, and she not only enjoyed perfect vision but liked how comfortable they felt on her nose and looped around her ears. She received many compliments from her friends on how nice she looked with them on, and thinking back to her attitude before she got her eyes tested, wondered by she hadn't done it a long, long time ago.

Seeing the world so clearly did cause her to be concerned for her sister, and decided she was going to have to bring it up to Amy. The question was how to do it, and she waited for the right opportunity. And, the opportunity was to come sooner than Bobbi thought.

to be continued...