I saw the leaves

When I was a kid, I had to sit with the TV in my face to be able to see what was happening. My father always said, "Back up, you'll mess up your eyes if you sit so close." Both of my parents constantly told me not to "squint". I had been squinting and NOT seeing the TV until one day in 1973 when, at the school's urging, my parents took me to an eye doctor who gave me a prescription for glasses that I FINALLY had. Naturally, at the same time, I had braces and was going through a dreadfully awkward phase to say the least. Those hideous brown glasses on me was like a bad pitcher with a paisley glove.

It didn't help that my long blond hair made me look like Linda Blair during the heyday of The Exorcist. And apparently, not in a good way...they referred to me as Exorcist Lady. I got back at them all by sprouting and dating college men. Senior year was quite nice for me after The Exorcist Lady craze. Before that, lordy, I hated high school.

I still had the glasses senior year but I didn't wear them because I didn't want to. I might have if they were at ALL cool, but brown glasses were out 5 years before I had them. Anyway it's too bad that I made myself miss so many leaves. Today I really miss seeing the leaves...as I did the afternoon my mom and I drove away from the eye glass place. Up until then, trees had been nothing but big, green, blobs. The were lovely with leaves on them.

Today my father has 6 kids who all wear glasses. He never even thought that I might need glasses because neither he nor my mother wore them. And, as he reminded me often, I was the first kid and meant to be practiced on. Oh well.

My glasses are broken and I'd like to see the leaves again.