I now have a myopic family
When the war started in 1939, my dad signed up for service in the Canadian army. Shortly after ,Mom and Dad decided to get married , and I came along in 1940, just before dad was send overseas. My name is Dianne, while I grew up mom worked in a munitions plant and grandma looked after me. I remember the day in 1945 after the war was finished, when my dad came home and we started to live like a family.
My mom wears glasses , she has the rimless kind , I like the looks of her glasses and think she looks very nice. Grandma wears a funny type of glasses that she clamps on her nose and they are always crooked .
Life is exciting , I am going to school now and have two real good friends, Linda and Susan We play hop-scotch, use the skipping rope , play marbles and a lot of other outdoor games.
Mom put her name in for a refrigerator, to replace our ice box. Dad told us that it will take a while before fridges and cars will be readily available, since none were made during the war when all factories were supplying the war effort, they all are now changing over for consumer goods production.
When I was 7 years old and in grade 2 , I had trouble reading what was on the blackboard . I told my mother , and she made an appointment for an eye exam. This was a new experience for me,I have always liked the looks of glasses , but did not expect I might need to wear them. When the doctor was finished , he told my mother I needed to wear glasses. There were only a few pairs of glasses frames on display ,so we selected the one I liked best. Now I am wearing glasses , a very light colored plastic frame. I like my new glasses very much, I can see so much better, and I like the looks of them , and it makes me feel more grown up.. I am the third student in our class to wear glasses. Susan and Linda told me how nice I looked wearing glasses , and both had to try them. Susan did not like them , Linda told me she would not mind having to wear glasses, she likes the look of them.
Friday night is shopping nite, when we were walking down the steet , noticed a crowd in front of the hardware store. When we got there we could not believe our eyes, in the window was a big box and a moving picture on it . [ 1948 ] Dad told me that it was a television set , one of the new inventions , in a few years we will have one to. The picture was not very big , it looked like a mineature movie. I am so glad I wear glasses , I had no trouble seeing the small picture.
Dad surprised us one night when he took all of us to the new Drive In Movie theater . After he parked the car , and put the speaker that was on a post into the car , we were ready to enjoy the movie. It was great , my younger brother and sister were asleep in the back seat ,while we enjoyed the movie.
My mother had an eye exam today. She went to a new optical store where they show a lot of nice glasses frames on display along the walls. When she came home with her new glasses everybody told her how nice she looked wearing her new glasses . She told us they are a new type of frame and are called cat eyes . The plastic frame is brown and has some nice sparkling decorations on the corners . Mother is so pleased with her new glasses , she loves them. I mentioned to my parents , that for my birthday present I would like new glasses. Mom took me to the big optical store , and after my eye exam , we selected a nice frame for me. There is such a large selection now, I really enjoyed trying all those different frames. I now wear cat eye glasses , they look so nice with the new stronger lenses , I am so proud of them.
Linda invited Susan and me to come over Saturday night, for a television party, to watch their new T.V. set . She told us that T.V. programs come on at six and end with the news cast at eleven . The T V screen is not very big , about 12 inches, but we sure enjoyed the shows , the one we all liked best was the Hit Parade . Linda asked me if she could try my glasses while watching the T.V. I handed her my glasses and after she put them on told me she wanted to keep them, she could see so much better now. I told her she could not have them , but I would go home and get my old pair for her. When I came back, I handed Linda my old glasses, she put them on , and wore the glasses all night. About a week later Linda came to school wearing glasses, and told us that she loves wearing them.
Before I went to high school ,mother took me to the optical store for my yearly eye exam. It is so exciting selecting a new frame when there is such a large selection. I now have a different pair of cat eye glasses , I love that new style , they are black on top and have wire on the bottom To complete my outfit , mom bought me a poodle skirt , bobby sox and saddle shoes . Now I am the perfect teenager.
We now have a T.V set ,with a 17 inch screen .[1953] Dad had to put an antenna on top of the house so we would get better reception . My favourite program is the Ed Sullivan show on Sunday night. There is always new talent, and last Sunday night Elvis Presley performed for the first time on television.. I love rock and roll music ,it is becoming very popular.
I make my pocket money baby sitting. After school we like to go to the Malt bar , to have a milk shake, or a soda , and listen to the music on the juke box. For a nickle you can select the favorite record you want to hear .
My younger brother Jimmie, is wearing glasses now. He selected what they call the Buddy Holly style , they are black plastic frames, and he is very proud of them. He is also greasing his hair , to be in style. I told him that he looks very handsome wearing his new glasses. About a year later my younger sister was prescribed glasses. We are now a myopic family, except for dad, he uses reading glasses.
My parents gave me permission to go out on dates , but I have to be home by 11 o,clock . Most of my dates are for high school dances, or going to see a movie. After the Christmas break ,we had a new student in our class . Richard is a well build good looking guy , I like him , he is very pleasant. In my mind, I can picture him wearing glasses. Silly me , but I can t help it, I prefer the looks of boys who wear glasses. The big surprise came when he asked me for a date . I liked him well enough as a person and accepted . He surprised me when he picked me up with his dad s car . This was my first date that a boy came to get me, with a car . We went to the drive in movie. After the movie had started , I noticed that Richard seemed very uncomfortable. I asked him if something was wrong. Yes ,I have a problem, I hope you are not dissapointed when I tell you. I have a vision problem, I am a bit nearsighted ,and I am wearing contact lenses ,but they are very uncomfortable . I don t need to vision correction at school as long I sit near the front of the class . But for watching a movie or driving I have to wear vision correction. Why don t you wear glasses , with all the new frames available you should look fantastic. I am an only child and I am supposed to be perfect , also I am very vain and don t like to be seen wearing glasses. So, what shall we do now ? I suggest you take me home, and when you are safely home , you can take your lenses out. If you like ,we can try again some other time. Dianne, thank you , yes I love to try again some other time . So Richard drove me home , gave me a kiss and thanked me for being so understanding. The next day at school , Richard told me that his mother was sorry she had suggested I get contact lenses , she had been sure that the new invention was better than having to wear glasses. She told me to go back to the optical store to select a frame and get a pair of glasses.
I was so excited when I was getting ready for our next date , Richard would be wearing glasses. What would he look like , what kind of frame did he select? I could not wait to see him. I was looking through the window when Richard came to get me. Wow ,he looked handsome, he was wearing what they call the clubmaster type of frame , with a bold upper part and thin metal lower part.
I opened the door and said come in handsome , I love your new look. Richard smiled, thank you Dianne , you make me feel so much better having to wear glasses. We went to the Drive in again, and really enjoyed the movie , this time. When we tried each others glasses, I noticed Richard s prescription was strong enough , that I was surprised that he did not have to wear his glasses full time. When I mentioned that to him , he said , Dianne ,I think you are right. The following week Richard came to school wearing glasses.
We have finished High School [ 1959 ], and Richard will go to university to study business. Glasses loving me decided to go to college and become an optician .
During the sixties , there were some big changes . The first colour T V s came on the market, but there were only very few programs to watch in colour, and the sets were very expensive. The selection in eyeglasses frames was much better now. Wire frames became more popular because of John Lennon of the Beatles. Lenses also became much larger , and the new droptemple frames look fantastic. When you like eyeglasses it is a wonder fulltime, so much selection. Both Richard and I have had increases in our prescriptions and now I am - 4.50 , and Richard is -3.25. We both proudly wear the latest style glasses.
After graduating and becoming a licensed optician , I started my job at the largest optical outlet in town . I really enjoy my job ,and what makes it even better I get paid for it. Now I wear drop temple glasses with quite large lenses, I really like that style.
Richard has graduated and is now working. Last Saturday night we went to a fancy restaurant , after a nice dinner and some dancing he asked me to marry him . I really love my glasses wearing guy so of course I accepted. We talked about the future and agreed we most likely would have a myopic family .
Not long after we had a very nice wedding, and now were ready start family.
They are developing a new subdivision. [1965] Richard and I have been looking at the model homes , and we decided on a a nice side split , 3 bedroom brick home,on a nice big lot. The price is $ 19.500.00 with a $ 1000.00 down . After the house was build , we moved into our new home , none to early I am pregnant.
[1975] A busy day at our house. Amy , Robert and Lisa, are due for their yearly eye exam . After the exam , we were told Amy is myopic ,her prescription reads – 1.00 I had expected that Amy needed to wear glasses , but was surprised when Robert was prescribed glasses . His prescription is only – 0.50 , but he has some astigmatism , which affects his vision. Lisa does not need glasses . Amy likes her new glasses and she looks so pretty. Robert looks very smart wearing his wire rim glasses. When Richard came home, was surprised to see both Amy and Robert wearing glasses , He complimented them on how nice they looked wearing glasses. Lisa told us she wants glasses to, so I told her that she most likely get hers next year.
Amy will be going to high school this fall. They all had to have their yearly eye exam before school started. Amy s prescription is now – 2.75 for the right and – 3.00 for the left eye. Robert is – 2.00. for the right and – 1.75 for the left eye and some astigmatism. Lisa got her wish she now wears glasses to ,her prescription is -1 .00 for the right and – 1.25 for the left eye. They had a great time selecting frames , all the lenses are larger now . Robert selected an aviator style frame. Amy fell in love with a light blue plastic frame , and Lisa liked the tortoisehell frame. When the kids came home all wearing their new glasses , Richard smiled and said Dianne we now have a beautiful looking myopic family,
https://vision-and-spex.com/the-myopic-baby-boomer-t804.html