Words from a Reader

The “Writing Life Stories” e-mails I receive are such treasures. As soon as I see there is one in my inbox, I read it immediately. I look forward to them and never know how they will touch me. They can be interesting, informative, humorous, and/or touching.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Regrets and Memories

John Burroughs: "I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."

Why do I take on more than I have time or energy to do? I know I am not thirty years old anymore and my body cannot keep up with my mind that hatches all these wonderful ideas.

I finally got the taxes done so that is off my worry list, but this weekend I will be speaking at a writers conference. That is not the problem. The problem is that I will be staying at a motel overnight on Friday and, unless they are very accommodating of my chemical sensitivities, I could wake up sick on Saturday morning. Then, my day will be most difficult.


Today I had my yearly eye exam and found all my tests are A-OK. Having diabetes, one is always a little nervous about the vision exams. They take photos of my eyes, and test for glaucoma, and probably other things I don't know about. My doctor is such a nice man. His wife works with him and she helped me choose new frames for my new prescription. I think I will be happy with them. I haven't been happy with what I've worn for a couple of years now. These will only have a lens for reading and a lens for working at the computer. 

I can remember the day when I was first fitted for glasses. I was in fifth grade at McIntosh School. The doctor said I didn't have to wear them all the time and shouldn't. But, it was so great to be able to see well that I didn't want to take them off, and I didn't except when I went to bed. 

It was only after I reached the stage where boys became important to me that I wished I didn't need glasses. I often went on "blind" dates, dates that I didn't wear my glasses and pretended I could see well. I hated wearing glasses when I was a teen. It seems today they are more fashionable and even celebrities wear them publicly. I tried to wear contact lenses - twice - but could not stand them in my eyes. 

Now when I get into my car to drive, I leave my glasses at home. When I take my test this year for my drivers license, I will be able to pass the requirements without my glasses. How strange life is. I don't care a hoot about how I look in glasses now, at this age. Everybody I know wears glasses. I even like myself better in glasses than without them.  

If only the girl I was at sixteen had been able to drive without glasses. That girl would have thought she was pretty if only she had not worn glasses. When I look back at her pictures, I can see she was pretty. I just wish she had known it. 

4 comments:

  1. I also have that quotation from John Burroughs in my quotation document, as it is so true. Time passes so quickly with not enough of it to do what we wish. I just realized that I had been blogging for five years, if someone had asked me I would have said 3 years.
    We worried about so many little things when we were teenagers and now when we look at our pictures we see that we were OK after all. I wore contact lenses for years as glasses did help my sight as well. Now I don’t wear them and wear glasses only to drive, and close up glasses to read. It’s good that you found the right fit of glasses this time – you eyes are so important.

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  2. This is an interesting post. I hope the hotel is accommodating to your chemical sensitivity disorder.

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  3. Abbie, the Arts Center, where the conference was held, called the motel and sent them my email about my particular requests,and the room was great. The staff at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Blue Ridge, GA did an excellent job of providing for my needs.
    I did have problems at the conference and the reception with all the folks who were wearing their fragrances. But I made it through and had a great experience.

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  4. Thanks, VB, for your comment. Yes, the time is flying much too fast. I have been blogging now since 2007 I believe. I started to blog after attending a NCWN Fall Conference and listening to a panel discuss their success with blogging. The fact that it was free made a huge difference.
    This weekend I heard some say that a writer needs a website and to use Facebook and/or Twitter to build a readership. I believe we build a following of readrs by keeping a blog.

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