Some years back, I could even dare to say over a decade ago, I began squinting when I would try to read things. And it was literally overnight. I just woke up one morning and things were blurry on the page. Having been legally blind in one eye from childhood, the difficulty of vision was never a surprise until the day squinting would no longer work and a friend handed me her reading glasses she called Cheaters. Once I placed these golden spheres upon my nose the world jumped back into focus.
I had officially crossed one of the many thresholds we stumble into at middle age. And to say middle age is becoming a stretch. Before long I had Readers/Cheaters shoved in my purse, my desk drawer, kitchen drawers and dressing table. My housekeeper asked me once if they were all prescription. I explained they were prescribed by TJ Maxx and Dollar General, which explained the massive amount.
Problem was these new additions to my being were always the opposite place as to where I needed them. Much like my umbrella. If it is raining and I am in my house the umbrella is in my car. And if I am in my car in a downpour the umbrella is in my house. But that is a column for another day.
These glasses help me to read, to work on my laptop, to put on makeup, and even to see my food clearly in a dark restaurant. I now have conversations with people that would have sounded like a foreign language in my twenties and thirties. "Are you a 2.0 or 2.5?" "Oh, I am all the way up to the 3.0's with some squinting." We middle aged pups should devise our one codes. "Are you a C average or have you finally worked your way up to the B?"
It should not have been a surprise to me the other day when I sat in a restaurant with two friends that this topic surfaced. I was trying to look at something on my phone when one said, "You haven't changed the font size on your phone yet?"
It was not that I didn't need to, I being 53 years old did not know how. So the three of us put out heads together to begin by first finding the settings icon to tap. She then walked me through the steps of growing the letters to a more convenient size. So, we ladies with a B average can read more easily. She then explained to me how to click on Bold Print so the words became thick and dark black.
Many years back I noticed my husband would send me emails in all capital letters. He would do the same with text messages. I explained to him on numerous occasions that this was not good etiquette because I felt like he was screaming at me each time I opened up a page to see what he was telling me.
Well, the next morning my phone was screaming when I reached over for the usual routine to check and see if after putting it on silent any family had tried to reach me in my slumber. There it all was in Big Black Bold print. Everything. All text messages, personal messages and even Facebook posts were huge. And as I responded to people the easy to see words no longer needed those exclamation marks I loved to use. A simple period made me feel my words were strong enough. It's kind of like we talk to people speaking another language louder thinking that will help them understand. Once again focusing in on this life will take some adjustment.
