School was over for the day and Taylor gently removed her glasses. She carefully placed them in the hard clamshell plastic case they had come in, and she placed the case into her backpack along with her schoolbooks. When she looked up and off into the distance she really didn’t like the blur she saw, and would almost rather have left her glasses on. But Mr. Sloan, her eye doctor, had suggested that she really only needed glasses for school, watching the television, and the movies. The rest of the time Taylor could go without them. Her mom had also felt that it would be better for Taylor if she didn’t wear her glasses all the time, and had even said that wearing glasses all the time would lead to Taylor needing stronger glasses sooner.
It had been a shock to Taylor when she had gone for her yearly physical. The nurse took her into the hall, and had her attempt to read the eye chart that was at the other end of the hallway. Taylor could only read a couple of lines clearly, and the nurse had then told her that it looked as if she might be nearsighted, and would need to get glasses. Taylor didn’t like the sounds of that.
When the results of her physical were reported to her mom, her mom made an appointment for Taylor with the town eye doctor. Then came the which is better routine and finally Taylor was prescribed glasses. It took a couple of weeks for her glasses to come in, and when Taylor put them on for the first time at the opticians store she was surprised at how much better she could see things. Her first prescription had been described as a mild one by Dr. Sloan, and in truth -1.25D in each eye didn’t seem terrible or anything. But they certainly did help and Taylor felt she now had superhuman vision because she could see so much better.
The first day back at school when Taylor opened her glasses case in front of her friends and took out her glasses and put them on her face had been a little embarrassing. Taylor had wondered what sort of a reaction she would get from the other kids in the class. Her two closest friends had known that Taylor now needed glasses, but they hadn’t said anything other than to tell her she looked cute in her new glasses.
Once the first day had passed without any negative comments Taylor felt better about having to wear glasses. She could no longer deny needing them, because without them on she couldn’t see a thing on the whiteboard. But she didn’t remember having that problem the previous year. She was pretty sure that she could see everything then.
Now the days passed with a routine. When Taylor got to school she would take her glasses from her backpack, and place them on her desk. When the teacher wrote something on the board that Taylor needed to see clearly she would take her glasses from the case and place them on her nose. Then she would leave them on until morning recess, and they would go back into their case. After recess they would come out again and go on to her face until lunchtime, when she would again take them off. After lunch Taylor would put them on again as soon as she needed to see anything on the board, and they would stay on until afternoon recess, when they came off and went into the case again. Sometimes Taylor’s glasses would stay in their case until the dismissal bell rang, because the last period of the day was either English, which involved a lot of reading, or music, and Taylor didn’t really need glasses for either activity.
Then when Taylor got home her glasses often stayed in her backpack until the following morning. Taylor didn’t really watch much television, and she preferred to read in her room after her homework was finished. Once in a while there would be a show she wanted to see on television and then she would put on her glasses to watch it, but after the show was finished she would take her glasses off and return the case to her back pack.
Things went on like this until after Christmas. Taylor did think that she noticed that things were not quite as clear in the distance as they had been when she first got her glasses, but she convinced herself that this couldn’t be possible.
One day early in February Taylor went home with her glasses in her backpack. This was one of the nights that she wanted to watch the television, so after supper she went to her backpack and got out her glasses case. When she opened it the case was empty. This couldn’t be possible she thought. She had placed her glasses in the case right before the afternoon recess, and hadn’t needed them again after recess. Taylor was convinced that someone had stolen her glasses.
“Mom, my glasses are not in their case.” Taylor said.
“Did you leave them at school dear?” Mom asked.
“No I didn’t. I put them in the case before recess, and then I didn’t wear them again. Then when it was time to come home I put my case in my backpack and then when I wanted to watch my show I got my glasses case out and it was empty.” Taylor said.
“Oh, you probably just left them somewhere Taylor. They will turn up tomorrow.” Mom said.
“But mom, I didn’t. Somebody stole them.” Taylor almost cried.
“They are your glasses and they are made for your eyes. They wouldn’t be any good to anyone else.” Mom said.
So the next day Taylor went to her teacher and told her that someone had taken her glasses from their case on her desk during the afternoon recess the previous day. Her teacher replied that this couldn’t be possible because she had been in the room during that time. But the teacher had forgotten that she went to the washroom for a minute. Now Taylor was really upset.
Taylor spent a miserable day in class. She couldn’t see a thing that was written on the board. Everyone had helped search the classroom for Taylor’s glasses, but they were nowhere to be found, and that night when Taylor went home she was crying. She had a really bad headache from straining to see things and all she wanted was her glasses back.
“I suppose we have to get you another pair of glasses child. But you are going to have to be more careful with your next pair. We aren’t made of money you know.” Mom said.
Taylor’s mom called the optician to see if she could order a new pair of glasses. The optician suggested that since it had been a few months since Taylor got her glasses, and since children’s eyes often changed rapidly that it might be best if Taylor popped in to see Dr. Sloan before they spent the money on new glasses. The optician spoke to Dr. Sloan’s receptionist while Taylor’s mom waited on hold, and Dr. Sloan said he could do a quick check of Taylor’s vision if they came in right away. So Taylor and her mom headed for the optical store.
“Well child, you have had a bit of an increase since you got your glasses. I need to increase your prescription. Now you might find it better to wear your new glasses all of the time.” Dr. Sloan told Taylor.
“Somebody stole my other glasses, so I am going to wear my glasses all the time anyway Doctor. They took them right out of the case on my desk at school.” Taylor told the doctor indignantly.
Taylor and her mom selected a new frame, and the optician promised to place a rush on the new glasses.
“I will place the order right now, and they should be here by tomorrow night after school. You might want to give us a call before you come by though.” She said.
The next morning at school Taylor felt a little better about having to go through another blurry day. At least she should have her new glasses by the following day, so she felt she could manage for one more day. She hadn’t realized though that her eyes had gotten a lot worse. The doctor had told her that her new glasses had to be twice as strong as her old ones, which made Taylor realize that she had only been seeing the same with her old glasses as she had been before she even got glasses.
Just before class started Jessica came up to Taylor. Taylor didn’t really like Jessica, and no one else in the class did either. Jessica came from a poor family, and she didn’t have very nice clothing. Sometimes the other kids made fun of her, so Jessica pretty much stayed to herself. It was unusual for Jessica to approach Taylor, and Taylor wondered what she wanted.
“I am sorry Taylor. I stole your glasses the other day. Here they are back.” Jessica said as she handed Taylor back her glasses.
“Why did you do that Jessica?” Taylor asked.
“I tried them on one day when you were outside for recess, and they helped me see so much better I wanted them for myself. But then when I got home with them I realized that I could never wear them to school because you would see me and know that they were your glasses. And then I saw how miserable you were yesterday without them I knew I had to give them back to you.” Jessica said.
Taylor almost asked why Jessica didn’t get her own glasses if her eyes were bad, but then she realized that Jessica’s family had no money. Taylor felt very sorry for Jessica right then. Taylor knew immediately what she was going to do.
“I should really thank you Jessica. Because you took my glasses I had to go back to the eye doctor and get new glasses. My new glasses are going to be a lot stronger, so I will be able to see much better. I will wear my old glasses today, and I will take them home with me tonight and tell my mom that my glasses were found at school. If I get my new glasses today after school I will bring these glasses back with me tomorrow and give them to you.” Taylor said.
“You would? Taylor that would be great. I am really sorry I took them though.” Jessica said.
Taylor was true to her word. She wore her old glasses for the rest of the day, and then when she went home she told her mom that her glasses had been found by the janitor at school. Then her mom called the optical store to see if Taylor’s new glasses had come in yet. The delivery had just arrived, and Taylor’s new glasses were there, so Taylor and her mom went downtown to get them. When Taylor put her new, stronger glasses on her face she was amazed at how much clearer everything appeared, and she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to take them off and on like she had done with her old ones.
The following day when Taylor got to school she went looking for Jessica. When she found her, Taylor handed Jessica her old glasses in the pink clamshell case. Jessica took out Taylor’s old glasses and put them on.
“Oh Taylor, thank you so much. Everything looks so clear now.” Jessica said.
Taylor wore these glasses for about two years before she felt she needed an increase in her prescription again. She had spent quite a bit of time hanging around with Jessica during this time, because they were the only two glasses wearers in their class. After she got to know her Taylor found that Jessica was really a very nice person. Taylor had been able to give Jessica some of her old clothing, so Jessica was able to dress a bit better than before. Jessica was very smart in school and since Taylor had given Jessica her old glasses Jessica had been able to keep her grades up. But Taylor knew that Jessica wasn’t seeing as well as she had been when she first got Taylor’s old glasses.
“I am going for another eye exam tomorrow Jess. If I get new glasses do you want my old ones again?” Taylor asked.
“I’ve been asking my mom if I could have my eyes tested, because these glasses just don’t help me that much anymore. But if you give me your old glasses again maybe I won’t have to ask mom to spend the money yet.” Jessica said.
So Taylor had her eye exam, and she needed an increase in her prescription up to -3.50D. Jessica was thrilled to get Taylor’s old -2.50D glasses, and she said they helped a lot more now than the other pair did.
As Jessica and Taylor went through high school Taylor would give Jessica her old glasses every time she got a new pair. Finally in senior year Jessica needed even stronger glasses than Taylor’s newest prescription so she finally had her own eye exam. When Taylor graduated from high school her prescription was right around -9.00D, but Jessica had reached the -10D mark. Now it was impossible for Jessica to try to wear Taylor’s old glasses so she got a pair of her own. But Taylor tried on Jessica’s new glasses and found that she really liked her vision through the slightly stronger lenses. So Taylor gave Jessica the money to have her prescription put in Taylor’s newest frame. Jessica wore Taylor’s -9D glasses in to the one hour optical store at the mall and presented her own new -10D prescription to the optician on duty. Then Jessica, without her glasses, sat in a complete blur in one of the chairs at the optical store until the glasses were ready. After Jessica got the glasses with the new lenses back from the optician she went to the food court in the mall where she met Taylor and they switched their glasses. Jessica had, on Taylor’s instructions, saved the old -9D lenses because Taylor thought that if she had to go back to her eye doctor for a new exam she would need to put the old lenses back in her frame and wear them to the exam.
Jessica could not afford to go on to university like Taylor did, so she attended the local community college. Taylor went on to graduate with an honors degree in English. While Taylor was in university she had found that the required reading was very hard on her eyesight and her glasses needed to be increased in power at least once a year. After she graduated with her degree Taylor was wearing a prescription of -12.50D in her glasses, and when she went back home she arranged to meet with Jessica for lunch one day. To both of their surprise Taylor and Jessica were again wearing the exact same prescription.
Specs4ever August 2012