This fantasy story takes place in Milam Indiana. Milam is a small town which the movie “Hoosiers” is loosely based on. Milam High School won a state basketball championship in the 50’s playing against much larger schools in the tournament. Indiana then unlike now had a one class basketball tournament. Larry now 18 is a senior at Milam High School. Larry who learned to read at age 4 is a great student. Milam schools a few years before Larry started school dropped their in house vision screening in favor of requiring an exam by an Optometrist every 2 years starting before 1st grade and odd number grades after that. Larry on those exams showed good vision with no need for glasses but the trouble starts while in 6th grade. Larry had started playing basketball for the school team in 4th grade and by 6th grade was one of the better players on the team. Larry has to take a standard sports physical every year and when doing so for 6th grade it’s noted with each eye separate he can only read the 20/25 line but with both eyes is still reading 20/20. The MD knowing before school next year Larry will have to have a proper eye exam does not see any need for further testing noting it could be a sign Larry could need glasses in the future. Larry continues basketball and all goes well until a late season game against an arch rival. The score is tied and Larry’s team has ball with plans to take the last shot with about 6 seconds to go in case of a put back on an offensive rebound. The other school’s fans are trying to distract the team by doing a countdown with less then the actual time remaining on the clock. Larry hearing the countdown takes the last shot with 12 seconds remaining which he makes but the other team ties the game and wins in overtime. When asked why he didn’t go by the clock Larry says with it on the other end of the floor he couldn’t see it. Larry then is taken to the part of the floor where he couldn’t see the clock and tries on one of the team managers glasses and can see the clock though it’s a little blurry. An eye exam is scheduled and Larry vision has changed quicker then expected. Larry is prescribed glasses with a prescription of -1.25R and -1-50L with minor Astigmatism in one eye. Larry gets sports googles for basketball. Larry gets glasses and sports goggles. At first Larry only wears his glasses in school and sometimes at home watching TV. There only a couple of games left in the season and Larry performs well with his sports googles. Larry soon realizes how much glasses help and eases into full time wear. Larry’s Mom is concerned about if he wears glasses too much and checks with the Optometrist who explains his eyes got to this point without wearing correction and that is an old wives tale. Larry for the only time plays baseball that summer while wearing sports googles. 7th grade starts and Larry continues basketball with the googles while wearing his glasses the rest of the time. Since he now wears correction and eye exam every year is needed and Larry’s prescription has risen to -1.50R and -2.00L now with Astigmatism in both eyes. At that exam due to playing basketball contacts are suggested and though unsure Larry’s parents agree to let him try them. Larry does fine with contacts only wearing them in games while continuing to use sports googles in practice. The main reason for going easy on contacts being new to them not too many had been ordered. After the last game of the season Larry is out of contacts and his Mom wants to order more but Larry says he won’t wear them again until next basketball season. Larry starts his 8th grade year wearing glasses until basketball practice starts and he is now wearing contacts on the days he has practice and not just for games. Larry’s Mom has by mistake ordered way too many pairs of contacts for him so he starts wearing them more until about the only time he’s wearing glasses is in the morning and at night before going to bed. Larry figure his prescription will change and he should go ahead and use them up. Larry’s eye exam in 8th grade to his surprise reveals no change in prescription and he still has enough contacts to last at least until late that summer. Larry all along had been planning on joining the high school freshman change the next year but that plan changed when the head varsity coach resigned to take a small college job. The old coach played a wide open run and gun offense which was fun for the players and fans but the new coach favored a much slower paced offense very similar to a 4 corner offense. Almost all the team quit and Larry was told he would get a lot of varsity playing time as a freshman but like the upper classmen wasn’t interested. Larry as planned uses up the remaining contacts during the rest of his 8th grade year and runs out in late summer before his freshman year. Larry’s Mom noticing by the end of summer Larry is not wearing contacts checks where he keeps his supply and sees he is out of contacts. Much to his surprise Larry’s Mom orders a new set of contacts paying extra to get them before school starts as well as enough product to last until his next eye exam. Larry explains he only ever agreed to contacts for basketball but there is a problem. His Mom really likes the way Larry looks wearing contacts instead of glasses and plans to keep him supplied. This would be a dream to a lot of teenagers who want contacts but their parents say no. Larry begrudgingly agrees to wear contacts until his next eye exam early in the second semester but says then he does not want the contact exam. Larry wears the contacts and still has 2 pair remaining at his before his next eye exam. When at the exam the receptionist asks contact exam Larry starts to say no but his Mom overrules him and saying do the contact exam. Larry’s glasses prescription does change to -2.00R and -2.50L still with minor Astigmatism. Larry would just as soon put his glasses on in the morning and forget about contacts but his Mom is obsessed. Mom does not want Larry to wear his glasses outside the house and Dad is no help as he can’t convince his wife the choice should be their sons. Dad is happy Larry is wearing vision correction like he’s supposed to as he watched his older sister avoid both glasses and contacts as long as she could. Larry like many teenagers was not into cars or looking forward to getting his drivers license that is until his freshman year when a new family moves into the area with a son his age who he quickly becomes friends with. The boys Dad used to race on the dirt tracks back home in Iowa and is restoring one of his old racecars found in a field as a hobby. Larry gets into helping work on the car so he and his Dad make a secret deal. To not make his Mom mad Larry will wear contacts and when he gets his license that he is now looking forward to his Dad will get him a car. Larry does get a break from contacts a few times a year as his Mom has taken a job within the same company and now travels 5-6 times a year on business. During those times Larry wears glasses and his Dad helps him hide contacts in his man cave so his Mom won’t know he is not wearing them when she is gone. Larry has to be careful when posting selfies on Facebook to take his glasses off so his Mom will think he’s wearing contacts. Larry does get his license and the promised car when old enough. Of course his license is restricted to corrective lenses. Today Larry’s prescription for glasses after a couple of changes is -2.75R and -3.25L with the Astigmatism changing slightly. Larry loves his car and is looking forward to going to college on a scholarship and trying to figure out a way to wear only glasses except when he comes home on holidays. Larry has been excepted to an excellent program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville so with the distance involved will only be home on holidays and in the summer. I just found out via google it’s supposed to be Milan but I’m not going back and changing all of them.
https://vision-and-spex.com/larry-s-milam-indiana-story-t1557.html