Making a spectacle of ourselves...

Torvy has joined the rest of the family in making a spectacle of himself. He has recently been complaining about not being able to see far off objects clearly. So when his vision test came due this year, it was no surprise that he had to get glasses. He is the only one of the four of us who is shortsighted, the rest of us have just the opposite problem. He also has an astigmatism which was picked up for the first time this year. He was quite pleased to have to get them and is rather taken with them. Totally different reaction from my generation. Mind you - the range of frames available makes all the difference, and he has chosen a pretty nifty pair, I'm sure you'll agree!

Björn has of course worn glasses for long sightedness (hyperopia) since he was 4 and contact lenses since he was 10. As the opthalmic surgeon in Cape Town (Rudi Claassens) suggested - and the British optometrists disputed - with the onset of puberty, his eyesight improved dramatically. He had to have his prescription reassessed and the change was remarkable. He had to replace all his contact lenses, of which he had quite a stock at that point. The extent of the improvement is such that he now very seldom wears either glasses or lenses. According to the optometrist on his last visit, he can see as well as the next person, his eyes just have to work harder to focus, making it very much his choice as to whether to wear any aids or not. Since he plays a fair amount of sport including men's cricket, he obviously copes just fine!

I was next in line, starting to wear specs about three and a half years ago for presbyopia - that condition that comes to us in our middle years when our arms suddenly seem to have become too short to hold the reading matter at a distance suitable for reading. On my 19th birthday, the optometrist "foretold" that I would need glasses by the age of 40. He was only about 18 months out. I am now on my second pair.


Next to succumb to the need for longer arms was John. He has had his reading glasses for about a year. Notice how he turns into his mother the moment he puts them on! The resemblance is startling. He seems not to need them as much as I need mine, though - I can't complete a sudoku without mine, whereas he seems to cope just fine.

What a spectacular family we are...