Cataracts!

One vivid memory that I have of my mother, is the ridiculously big sunglasses that she wore after she had cataract surgery. She continued to wear them long after her surgery and it was a common sight to see her in the passenger seat of the car with her humongous sunglasses covering her regular glasses and most of her face. It is a recollection I remember fondly. However, fast forward twenty years and it is not so cute when I am the one wearing these gigantic sunglasses. 

About three years ago, I started to realize that even with an updated prescription my vision was deteriorating. I went back to my eye doctor several times, complaining that I couldn't see clearly. He tried to readjust my prescription but eventually said that he could do nothing else because I had cataracts. At first, I was in denial. In my mind, only old people got cataracts! When did I get so old? Eventually, I came to terms with it and decided that it would be better to see again than to continue to refuse to believe that I had cataracts. I went to the specialist that my eye doctor recommended and he scheduled me for cataract surgery.

I had surgery on my right eye on January 29 and surgery on my left eye yesterday. Everything went really well and I am so pleased to be able to see clearly again. It is absolutely amazing! The only downside was the sunglasses. As Steve drove me home from my first surgery, he looked over at me in the passenger seat and laughingly said, "how's it going, Edith?" Fortunately, I really didn't have to wear them very long. I kept them on for most of the day after surgery because it felt good not to be exposed to light, but by the following day I was fine in the house. When I am outside or in the car, I wear "normal" sunglasses and not the ones given to me by the doctor.

Yesterday, after my second surgery, I was camped in the basement with my wonderful sunglasses on and Megan came for a visit. We chatted about some stuff and finally she blurted out, "Mom, it's really hard to take anything you say seriously when you are wearing those crazy glasses!" We had a good laugh and I decided the glasses had to go.

I had my follow-up visit for my left eye today, and the doctor says everything looks great. I am very happy and relieved to have good vision again and I am delighted to officially retire those sunglasses! Unlike my mother, who continued to enjoy her glasses for years, you will not see me wearing mine again!

For Sale Update

2/28/18 - When I write this blog, I always assume that nobody really reads it. I was surprised how many people commented to me about my For Sale post. Unfortunately, our property did not sell on the 22nd. Although a good many people came, none were bidders--they were just support for us or curious. So, the twists and turns of our life continue. Our realtor has confidence that the property will still sell, but we will see. Meanwhile, we wait. We are pretty good at that. We've had a lot of practice over the last year and a half.

Well, if 2017 was a year to forget, hopefully 2018 will be a year to remember. Many times over the past year, Steve and I both thought that what life was throwing at us was too much for us to handle. I don't think a public blog is the place to explain in detail everything that has been happening to us but suffice it to say, life has been difficult. Almost harder than being forced by a government agency to shut down our business, was the lies and accusations that a few of our neighbors and local and state government officials, told about us and that the news media latched on to. After reading in the newspapers and online what was written about us and how inaccurate it was, I am left wondering if news people ever get any story right. They certainly did not in our case and I suspicion that is often the way it is.

When you are going through a difficult time, you feel like your situation is worse than anyone else's. During the past year, several people have told us, "everyone has problems, your problem is not as bad as ...."  Even though that may be (and probably is) true, this is NOT what you tell someone who is currently in a very difficult and stressful situation. It's a lot like a death. You don't tell someone who just lost a loved one, "tough luck, everybody deals with death in their life." Instead you say, "I am so sorry. I know you are hurting," (or something similar).  I do understand that most of these people were just trying to make us feel better and we need to appreciate that they care and not take what they say too seriously. We are tremendously grateful for all the wonderful support that we receive from family and friends and neighbors (yes, we do have neighbors that appreciate us!). We are incredibly blessed to have such a great support system and I don't think we would prevail without them. Even though at times it has felt like God was very far away and it was hard to pray, our faith is deep. It may be shaken but it is not destroyed. We believe and know that God is in this situation and we are trusting him to see us through.

So...we have decided to leave the past behind and move on. We are downsizing a few years earlier than we anticipated but now that we made that decision it feels good. The sale of our house and property is just two weeks away and we are excited about it and looking forward to the future. Where will that take us? We are not sure but we do have some ideas. Hopefully fairly soon I can share them on this blog. In the meantime, I've got a sale to think about.