I hope most of you have already been to Theric's blog and read about our new glasses. If not, please go there and read his post on this topic first. What Theric said about my old pair of glasses is true. They were perfect.
Never have I owned such a pair of glasses. A pair of glasses that I was truly excited to put on every morning and wear all day. A pair that complemented my hair and my face. They were perfect.
When I picked them out oh so many years ago (I was still on my parents insurance!) I balked at the price. As did my mother. I feared to even try them on because, if I remember correctly, they were priced at $250 !!!!!!
They were Kenneth Cole. Plastic, reddish brown, almond shaped frames.
They looked nice, plus I admired and desired highly to own Kenneth Cole shoes. Eyeglass frames, though not quite as exciting as shoes, might quelch my desire for his shoes, I thought. I put them on my face and fell in love with them. My Mom loved them too. But we did not love the price tag.
They were pretty much the only frame at the optometrist that I liked though, so I felt kind of stuck. Do I go with a frame that is ok or do I beg my Mom to pay the cost difference for a pair of frames that I love?
And then the lady there that helps customers with the picking out and adjusting of glasses frames took one look at me in them and said " Wow! Those frames were made for you!" Now she might say that to everyone, but she sounded pretty sincere to me, so my mother and I were convinced and Mom bought them.
Thinking back they really could not have been $250, it was probably more like $150. Still, that's a lot when all through my life my Mother always told me I could not pick put a frame that exceeded what was covered by our Insurance. Usually that was about $40 or $50. So asking Mom to cover the rest out of pocket was a big deal.
Once I started wearing them I would get comments on them at least once a month. This was truly novel to me as I had never ever received compliments on my eyeglasses. I have worn glasses since second grade. I switched to contacts sometime in high school because I was tried of feeling ugly all of the time. Getting rid of the glasses really boosted my self image. But during my sophomore year of college I decided I would like to have a pair of glasses that I really liked. A pair to wear when I didn't feel like dealing with my contacts. I asked my Mother if this would be ok and the next time I came home she took me to our optometrist's to pick out some new frames.
When I started wearing these new Kenneth Cole frames I hadn't been wearing glasses at all for about four years. So to be switching back and forth felt like a luxury, plus I looked great in these new frames.
I quickly switched to wearing my glasses almost all the time because I loved the Kenneth Cole frames so much.
It has been asked why I would give up such perfect frames. Good question. I actually am now wondering that myself. But there is a good reason.
Besides the fact that I had to get new glasses (my prescription had changed ever so slightly) the perfect frames were getting very worn. They are plastic you see, and plastic can start to change colors and degrade when worn everyday next to skin for six-plus years. The Kenneth Coles were discolored in a few places and they were beginning to feel a little bit fragile. So, new frames were definitely in order.
Theric and I were very excited to go to our optometry appointment. We were very excited to choose new frames. But my excitement waned when I realized this office had no frames similar to my perfect ones. In fact I was very disappointed overall with the selection.
But,I got it narrowed down to two that I liked ok. Theric could not choose between them, nor could I. So I asked the lady who was assisting us for her opinion, and I went with the pair she thought looked best.
(I tried to find a picture of them to post, but every time I found a place that said they were selling Brooks Brothers 657 they had no photo available....strange.)As you know, we went yesterday (Wed. April 5th) to go pick up our new glasses. I put my new pair on and things looked so....crisp and clean....it was unnerving. Plus they felt weird. The girl working adjusted the fit a little bit for me. They felt a little better but not quite right. I looked at myself in the mirror and hated what I saw.
I did not like these new glasses. I started to get a headache.
I complained about them the rest of the evening: "They made my face look fat! They make me look old! These were meant for men!I look like I have a square face!" And other various complaints.
I did not like these glasses.
The headache was worse, they felt crooked and they kept sliding down my nose. It was infuriating. The world looked askew and I felt sick. I was very depressed.
"I'm wearing my old glasses!" I declared. But Theric would not allow me to and said I had to give the new ones at least a week before deciding to get new ones. (Ha! As if we can even afford new ones! These were not cheap.) And that I should go back to the office to get them re-fit.
I had them re-fit this morning.
The world looks better, my headache is gone.
Perhaps these new frames aren't so bad after all.
