Have you seen my contact?

Remember when contacts were small hard discs that barely fit into your eye? A time before disposable or even soft contacts?

Aast the oldest, my sister Cindy paved the way for the rest of us. She was the suffragette who fought for longer showers, wearing eye shadow and ear piercing. This daring heroine was the first one in our family to break Dad down to allow contacts in the house. We had to pay for our own contacts of course, since my Dad considered them a luxury and next to hair, the root of all evil. I have to admit, she almost sabotaged us all the first day when she dove into the pool with contact in and they promptly floated away. Fortunately for the rest of us, they were found in the skimmers.

Wearing contacts was really a commitment. They were uncomfortable to wear, the smallest piece of dust would feel like a knife going through your eye. The first day I tried to put in my contacts it took me almost an hour to get the first one in, fortunately, I was able to master the act much quicker. It came down to logistics - I need a lot of sleep and getting up two hours earlier in the morning to put in contacts just wasn't an option. Taking them out also took a lot of time, until the eye doctor gave me a little suction cup to remove them (awesome invention).

You would think something that was so difficult to put in and take out would stay put. But no, those little puppies would pop out at the most inconvenient times, taking tests, playing volleyball or tether ball. It became common practice during sports events for the whistle to blow and every player would drop to the floor looking for that elusive plastic disk. Fans would cheer as the player held up the contact and play would resume. One time that sticks in my mind was walking with friends to a party. My contact popped out and landed on the ground, on the ice. Since it was a light blue, it was difficult to find. Enterprising guys would carry flashlights to help identify contacts. My knight in shining armor that night and many others was Mark. Always prepared, he had the flashlight and was able to find the contact.

Even when you took your contact out, you weren't safe. There was no worse sound then hearing a crack as you closed the case. Yep, another broken contact. I became quite adept at seeing the world through one eye. Since my vision is so bad, the doctor always had to order my contacts which would take a week or two.

So, one of the things I am thankful about is disposable contacts that are comfortable. I have thought about Lasix surgery. But I am not sure I want to open my eyes and see clearly in the morning. I kind of like seeing easing into the world and having everything a little fuzzy at first.

S