It's the Vision Thing

Until I was five years old, I had a unique talent. Or what I as a four year old thought was a unique talent. I could have my eyeballs go in multiple directions at the same time, and even into my head so only the whites of my eyes were showing. After one too many demonstrations of this at the dinner table, and kindergarten looming my parents thought maybe I should see an eye doctor. And so it was that at the age of 4 years old I had an operation to strengthen the muscles in my eyes. I remember clearly today as I am standing here in front of you, the moment I woke up from the operation. Everything was dark. I remained silent somewhat disoriented as I pondered whether I had lost my sight completely. 

Then my other senses took over, and I heard talking. Then someone realized I was awake. I was told to stay calm, and why is it that when someone tells you to stay calm, that your anxiety increases exponentially. What they meant was don’t move. And when I stopped moving, they slowly pulled the patches off my eyes. And the light was blinding at first as I had gotten used to the darkness…Then it was blurry and I could make out some shapes, then clarity came back to my vision and the first thing I saw was a stack of books next to my hospital bed. The top book I remember was Mary Poppins. Thus began my love affair with books and Julie Andrews. And although the operation was a success, it left me with some side effects

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