A Wallflower and Her Glasses…

When I was a young teen, the need for glasses became increasingly apparent the further away from the black board I sat in class.  To my own discredit, I did have glasses when I was 7 and absolutely refused to wear them.  The reasons why allude me now.  Most likely I didn’t like how they felt, and my mom decided not to fight with me about it.

At that time in our lives, we were living on financial assistance.  This dictated what frames were “allowed” so to speak that my mom didn’t have to pay extra for.  The year was 1989, I was 14, and the choices were less than…well, choice.  There I am, standing in front of these 10 ugly frame options trying to decide which were the lesser of the evils.  Needless to say, I was not happy.

The glasses were ready 2 weeks later and I begrudgingly started to wear them.  They donned my face at home if I needed to see the TV from the furthest point in the room. Otherwise, they stayed in my bedroom.   But at least at home, nobody who really mattered would see me.  

In Ontario, for grades 7 & 8 we attended “Junior High” between elementary school and high school.  You can imagine the displeasure, to put it mildly, that I exuded in having to wear these atrocious things around other teenagers.  I was an introvert who so badly wanted to be an extrovert.  I was a wallflower dying to be noticed, but terrified of it at the same time. But I did not want to be noticed in those hideous glasses. 

I hated confrontation and wanted to please people, especially my teachers. That meant doing well in school, which meant... I had to see the board. Which meant—ugh—I had to wear the glasses.

Fine!  There were ways to duck and cover so as not to be seen too long in them.

But between classes, I wasn’t so blind that I couldn’t maneuver my way down the hallway without them, so they stayed in my pocket until needed!

As the year progressed, it became irritatingly evident that I needed to keep the glasses perched on my nose most of the time.  So be it, I wasn’t that well known anyway.  The desire to see well started to outweigh the vanity I was so drastically trying to cling to.  

When I graduated to highschool, my mom gifted me with contact lenses.  THANK YOU MOM! I was young, but I was determined.  The sheer bliss of not having to be that girl for the next 4 years.  I mean come on, highschool is hard enough. 

Yes, me in all my wallflower glory!

Fast forward several years to my first job at an Optical store.  I’m still wearing my contacts most of the time while having unlimited advantages to update my glasses to something much more in fashion.  However, the image of that self conscious girl was always in the forefront of my mind, no matter how much better the glasses style looked.  I was going to forever be that girl wearing the glasses that made her look like a bug. (Seriously, they were huge!)

As my career in optics progressed, I became responsible for how our frame boards looked. This required me to spend a lot of time with different frame representatives, and because of that experience I was able to develop a real appreciation for frames.  They became more than a necessity, an annoyance to endure. They were personality personified when paired with the right character.  The colors, the shapes and designs became something to look forward to wearing.  The frame choices started to become a part of me, a part of who I wanted to be and who I wanted to portray.  Someone confident, fun, experienced and no longer a wallflower.  Gone was the image of that young girl embarrassed and who’s own ugly duckling complex just felt intensified by the less than ideal frame options put before her.  Instead, the possibilities were endless and wearing contact lenses no longer felt like a need. 

So many options…and so many more!

Maybe that’s why I believe so strongly that everyone deserves to feel good in their eyewear. For many, glasses aren’t a choice—they’re a necessity. And for many, the choices are still limited. How wonderful would it be if everyone could feel both confident and comfortable in how they look and how they see?

With Because Eye Care and my mobile model, I am able to offer a wide range of colorful, stylish and affordable glasses to practically anyone.  And I can promise that I will be honest in expressing whether or not they are suitable to not only your style needs, but also your vision needs.  

The funny thing is, those glasses I wore back in the day would be very in fashion with today’s larger frame trend.  Perhaps I should have kept them just in case? 

Nah!