By Christine Price
Columnist
Amidst all the stress, anxiety, craziness and bad news, my goal is to spotlight and share the good news in our community.
I knew something was going on with my eyes when I found myself constantly brightening my computer screen until it was so bright you could have landed an airplane in my office. At the same time, I started enlarging the font size which ended up so big it looked like a children’s picture book.
Driving at night became a new challenge. When the roads were dark, it was hard to see. But when I hit a stretch of streetlights, the glare and halos didn’t make it any better.
Finally, I admitted it. It wasn’t my computer, or my car headlights, or that I needed new glasses. The problem was me. It was time for cataract surgery.
I’ll be honest – I was nervous.
I kept calling it a “procedure” because somehow that word sounded so less frightening than “surgery.” But when the day arrived, it turned out not to be a big deal at all.
In fact, the whole thing went so smoothly that afterword they casually offered me water. I declined, said thank you and they cheerfully waved goodbye. No dramatic exit, no wheelchair ride down the hall. I just got up, walked toward the door and then I opened it.
That’s when it happened.
I suddenly knew how Dorothy must have felt when she stepped out of her black-and-white Kansas farmhouse and into the Technicolor land of Oz. The grass was greener; the sky was bluer and the petals on the flowers were sharp and vivid. Everything looked so bright and crisp. One minute the world was sepia, the next it was a dazzling rainbow!
A couple of days later, I was sitting in my pink office and noticed a few little dings in the wall. They must have been there for years, but I had never seen them before. Fortunately, I had saved the paint chip, so I bought a little jar of touchup paint and went to work.
Then I was sitting on the couch and spotted dust bunnies under a chair. I never noticed those before either. Off I went to buy a nice new dust mop. Dust bunnies eliminated!
Or so I thought.
Next thing I knew, the dust bunnies had migrated to the baseboards. From there, they seemed to have learned to fly, because they’d gathered on the blades of my bedroom ceiling fan.
What was going on? I keep a clean house! But suddenly, it seemed like I hadn’t been doing a very good job at all.
And then it happened – my husband walked in on me cleaning the toaster. We both looked at each other and started laughing. That’s when I realized the truth. All those dust bunnies, fingerprints and tiny wall dings had been there all along. I just couldn’t see them before.
Yes – I’m cleaning more than I used to. Every dust bunny is just proof that I can see again – and if that means my house is cleaner and my world is brighter, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal! I really like it here in Oz!
When you see good news, and you will, please let me know. I would love to share it. Please include your name, phone number, and city you live in and email cpriceconcord@aol.com.
