Memories

Two of our kids had eye dr appts this week....Jared has been complaining about blurry vision while reading or working on the computer, and after his exam the doc told him he needs reading glasses. Huh? He's only 18, ferpetesake! Guess all that computer time has taken its toll. Jared was sporting his new "look" this evening, and he doesn't look half bad, if I do say so myself. LOL

Janae now has her first pair of contact lenses, which she has been desperately wanting for the last several years. We agreed to pay her fitting fees, on the condition that she would pay for her monthly supply of lenses....babysitting one evening a month will more than cover the $10-20 expense. IF she doesn't lose, tear, or scratch a lens and have to order a new pair.

So, you can probably guess where this story is headed.....Janae was cleaning one of her contacts this evening when she turned to talk to her Dad, and when she turned back around, her contact wasn't still in her palm. Instant panic! Jalyn & Jamye got down on their hands and knees to frantically search the floor around Janae's desk, and of course I had to get in on the action. Paul helped by bringing his flashlight in to illuminate the area, and a minute or two later, I found the contact, clinging to the leg of Janae's desk, almost all the way to the floor. Don't ask me how it ended up there, but it did. Maybe her long tresses brushed it out of her palm when she turned her head, who knows? At any rate, Janae was very thankful I found it, because she only has the one pair, and we're leaving town first thing tomorrow morning for the kids' three-day basketball tournament. She would have been heartbroken to have to go back to wearing her glasses after only two days.

After the near loss of Janae's very first pair of contacts, of course I had to share the story of my first pair of contacts....I was 14 and a freshman in High School. Our gymnasium had a built-into-the-brick-wall drinking fountain, and I foolishly decided my contact needed to be washed off. (Back in the "olden-days" they didn't make soft lenses, I used hard lenses, which could be washed off with plain water.) You can probably guess the outcome of my efforts....the lens washed down the drain. I looked down the drain holes (which if you ask me, were MUCH too large), and much to my surprise, my contact was clinging to the side of the pipe, about half-way down to the elbow where it would be lost to the sewer system forever.

But how to get it back up? We couldn't just open up the pipes, because they were behind the brick wall (what brilliant mind thought that configuration up?). A very resourseful friend suggested dropping a wad of bubble gum on a string down a drain hole, and then pulling the contact lens back up to safety. Theoretically, this was a brilliant plan which should have worked.....but the best laid plans of mice and men.....

We managed to snag the contact on the gum, but it didn't get stuck on very well. We all held our collective breath as my friend gently pulled the string back up the pipe, inch by precarious inch. The thrill of victory was so close we could taste it, but just as we tried to slip the contact through the drain hole, it came loose and fell hopelessly out of sight, never to be seen again....ooooh, the agony of defeat!

Ahhhh, memories. Ü