Mary was the only girl in the family, she had 2 brothers who teased her lot so she learned to look after herself at an early age. She was 15 Years old , a good student well liked. She was a pretty girl with dark blond curly hair and developing a nice figure, She wore glasses for myopia. She started to wear glasses when she was in grade 6, when she realized she had trouble seeing the blackboard. Jenny one of her class mates had just started to wear glasses, and when Mary tried them , she realized she needed glasses. When she came home that night she told her mom about trying Jenny s glasses, and that she was able to see everything much better. and thought that she might need glasses. Her mother who did not wear glasses and did not know much about them, was surprised Mary might have a vision problem., she made an appointment for an eye exam with Dr. Jones the optometrist. When Mary had the exam, she was very interested in everything the Doctor did.He would shine a bright light in your eye, made you look at angles and than at a wall chart to see which line you could read. Then he would make the letters very clear and then a little different and asked which was best. When he was finished he told Mary and her mother that she was myopic and had a slight astigmatism, but with wearing glasses she should have perfect vision, her eyes were healthy and he wanted to see her again in about a year. Then she got her first pair of glasses, she liked the looks of them, could see everything, and they were very comfortable to wear. She liked her glasses. She wanted to know more about glasses and lenses, and spend a lot of time on the computer and became familiar with myopia presbyopia astigmatism and the different types of lenses to correct vision problems.
Mary had taken a baby sitting course with the Red Cross, so she was well qualified to look after children, and that gave her the opportunity to make some pocket money babysitting , and had no trouble getting jobs. She became the regular sitter for Mrs. Douglass, who had a 4 yr old boy Peter and a 5 yr. old girl Kathy. Mary observed that Kathy when she was reading to them, seemed to squint to see the pictures on the pages that she was reading. When Kathy had the book in her hands she brought the book very close to her eyes. When playing ball in the back yard when tossing a ball, Kathy had a hard time catching the ball , she seemed not be able to see the ball coming at her. Mary told Mrs. Douglass what she had noticed and asked her if Kathy ever had he eyes checked. Mrs. Douglass was very surprised hearing that, she had not noticed anything wrong with Kathy s vision, the only thing she had noticed that Kathy liked to sit close to the T.V screen, but she thought all kids did that. She said she would discuss it with her husband. Mr. and Mrs Douglass asked Mary if she could take Peter and Kathy to Dr. Jones for an eye exam they had made an appointment, but they were unable to take them at that time. They would take care of all the financial arrangements, all Mary had to do is take the kids to Dr. Jones and the optical store in the mall, if that was necessary . They could get their easy by bus. So Mary and the kids went to Dr. Jones office. Mary was with Kathy and Peter in the examination room and watched the procedures. Dr. Jones told Mary she was right , Kathy was myopic and quite a bit of astigmatism, and needed to wear glasses. He examined Peter s eyes , but he was O K So to the mall they went to see the optician. Mary enjoyed the experience of helping Kathy pick the right frame. They selected a blue plastic frame that looked really good with Kathy s blond hair. They were told to come back in about an hour and the glasses would be ready. They went to the food court to get some refreshments. Peter was not a very happy boy, he felt left out, why could he not have new glasses to. Mary told maybe next year when we go back. When they went back to the optician, Kathy was very excited , she would be wearing glasses just like Mary was. The glasses were ready , and after trying and adjusting them they were ready to go home. Kathy was very happy with all the things she could see now, and was very proud of her new glasses. That night when Mr. and Mrs. Douglass came home they were very surprised , they had not expected Kathy to need glasses and thanked Mary for her help. They thought Kathy looked very cute with her glasses and thought the girls had made a good choice. When she came home Mary told her parents all about the day and how she had enjoyed the experience.
A couple of weeks later Mary and her younger brother Paul were in the living room watching a movie on T V, Mary had made some popcorn and they sat back and relaxed . Paul was getting restless and moved closer to the T V. Mary noticed Paul seemed to be squinting. she asked him if he had trouble seeing the movie? He said not when I am sitting closer to the T V Mary suspected Paul might need glasses and he did not realize it. So Mary went to her bedroom and in her dresser found her old glasses, she took them to the living room and said to Paul why don t you try these , and handed him her old glasses. He said I don t need glasses. Mary said come and sit beside me and try the glasses, you might be surprised. Reluctantly Paul sat beside Mary and put the glasses on. Can you see the picture now she asked, and Paul had to admit that the glasses made the picture much clearer . Mary suggested he wear the glasses. When the movie was finished Paul admitted he could see much better wearing the glasses.But he did not want to wear glasses and did not need them. When her parents came home Mary told her mother what had happened and she said I am not really surprised you got your glasses at his age. An appointment was made for Paul and Mary who was due for an exam to see Dr. Jones. Just like Mary thought Paul needed glasses his prescription was very close to her first one. Mary needed an increase in her prescription and now was -2.75 for the right and -3.00 for the left eye .he r astigmatism had not changed. So Mary and Paul went to the optician to get their new glasses.,Paul was not very happy he did not want to wear stupid glasses. Mary helped Paul pick out a frame that looked very good on him and made him look more mature., When Paul looked at himself in the mirror he thought they did not look to bad. When they went to pick up their glasses , Mary noticed a nice difference in her prescription and liked it ,it felt good. Paul could not believe how well he could see wearing his new glasses and thought he looked much better wearing glasses than than he expected and figured wearing glasses might be all right. His mother when he came home could not believe her eyes, her baby boy wearing glasses and he looked so much more mature wearing them, and told Paul he looked very handsome.
Back at school during the math. class Mary sat beside Andrea a pleasant girl and they got along well. When the teacher used the overhead projector Andrea had trouble reading the print, she asked Mary if she could copy her notes Mary said sure. do you have trouble reading the printing? Andrea said it looked fuzzy and not very clear. Mary took note and that night put her old glasses in her school bag. The next day when the teacher used the overhead projector again Mary handed Andrea her old glasses and suggested she try them. When Andrea put the glasses on she could not believe the difference and wore them the rest of the lecture. She asked if she could borrow them so she could try them some more ,she was sure now that she needed glasses. She could not believe how much better she could see wearing Mary s glasses. A few days later Andrea came to school wearing new glasses. She looked terrific, her eyes looked brighter and the color of the frame enhanced her looks. She noticed a lot of boys staring at her and received a lot of compliments from the girls. She was very happy she could see so well and still look attractive. She liked her glasses and thanked Mary for her help and gave her back the old glasses. After helping Andrea , Mary noticed herself looking at every student to see if they might have a vision problem, and carried her old glasses in her bags so she could help someone. A few days later Jenny, who had noticed Mary helping Andrea, asked Mary if she could talk to her. They sat down in the school cafeteria Jenny opened up. She told Mary she had trouble seeing the black board unless she sat in the front row . She was sure she had a vision problem, but could not talk to her parents about it because her parents had perfect children that were a picture of health and had no physical defects. Mary said it sounds you are nearsighted, same as me. I have my old glasses with me , would you like to try them.? When Jenny put the glasses on she could not believe what she could see, and did not want to take the glasses off. Mary what am I going to do? Mary asked Jenny if her mother would be home after school? Jenny said she is always waiting for me. S Mary said good I will come with you and talk to her. When they arrived at Jenny s place her mother was watching T.V. Mary noticed she sat close to the T V set. After greeting the girls she said to Jenny remind me to talk to your dad, about getting a new T V , the picture on this sat is very blurry. Mary said I cannot see anything wrong with the picture quality, before I got glasses I had the same experience., perhaps you need glasses. Jenny s mother said my eyes are perfect, never had any trouble. Jenny said mom eyesight can deteriorate without realizing it. I have trouble seeing the blackboard in class , and when Mary let me wear her old glasses everything came into focus.I know I have to get my eyes examined and will need glasses. Jenny s mother said do glasses make that much difference? Mary said would you like to try the glasses and handed them to Jenny s mother.Reluctantly she tried them on and looked at the T V. Its unbelievable the difference they make, I cannot believe it. Mary said when you get your own prescription you won t believe the difference in your vision. Well Jenny you and I will have to get our eyes examined and see what happens. When Mary went home, Jenny said that was a surprise and thanked her , and asked if she could keep Mary s glass till she got her own. About a week later Jenny came to school wearing her new glasses , she was , very proud of them and happy how well she could see loved her glasses.She told Mary her mother needed glasses also and ended up with bifocals. Her Father surprised them when he told them how good they looked wearing glasses. Marry was very happy everything had gone so well, had her old glasses in her school bag and looked if anybody was squinting.