At my age, I don’t know many people who don’t wear glasses, at least for reading, except for my husband, who likes to pretend he doesn’t need them so he leaves them in the car. This requires me to do dramatic readings of the dinner menu when we go out to eat or he can fake it by ordering something he’s had before.
I’ve been near-sighted since the day in third grade when I noticed all my classmates writing down an assignment the teacher wrote on the blackboard, but I couldn’t read a single word. That night, my dad tucked his glasses over my ears. I looked out the window and could see individual leaves on the maple tree in the yard. The TV wasn’t blurry. I hadn’t known what I was missing until that moment. A few weeks later I was the owner of a pair of new glasses and the playground nickname “four eyes” but at least I could clearly see who was picking on me.
Now I’m reaching the age where rooms with high ceilings and big crowds remind me that my hearing isn’t what it used to be. I was sitting in one of those noisy rooms recently, talking to a woman at my table, and I leaned in to hear her better. “Guess I’m getting to that age where I should get my ears checked,” I said. She reached behind her ear and pulled out a tiny, clear cord hooked to a nearly invisible hearing aid. I wouldn’t have guessed she was wearing them. She told me she hadn’t realized how much lip-reading she’d been doing until COVID hit and everyone’s face was covered. She got her hearing checked and sure enough, it needed some help. She told me it’s made a huge difference in her life.
I take for granted my annual appointment with the eye doctor and the new prescription he writes when I need it. I can get glasses the same day at a local store. And I’m sure if I do need hearing aids, getting them will be simple and I’ll be able to sit in crowded rooms and clearly hear what others around me are saying.
It’s easy to forget not everyone has this luxury. Depending on where you live, you may not have access to vision and hearing tests, or the money to buy glasses and hearing aids. Luckily, there’s a Lions club for that.
Since 1925, Lions International has clubs around the world working to help folks see and hear better. You may have seen the fancy yellow box at the courthouse square where you can drop off your old glasses for recycling. Or one of our cardboard donation boxes sitting on the counter at your optician’s office. Our local Lions clubs collect and sort these glasses and take them to our Phoenix recycling center where they are cleaned and identified by prescription strength and sent to help people in need all around the world.
Maybe you’ve noticed the giant Lions Mobile Eye Care Van at events and parades around town. It helps us take eye exam services on the road to underserved communities around Yavapai County, along with grants to help qualified low-income residents buy new glasses. And then there’s Lions Kidsight USA which offers vision screening for preschool and elementary-age kids to catch issues before they affect learning.
We have several Lions clubs in the Quad Cities if you have the time to volunteer. But even if you don’t, you can make a big difference by going through your home and rounding up all those old pairs of prescription and reading glasses. Drop them at our drive-thru event next Saturday, March 18 from 9 a.m. to noon at 1011 Ruth Street in Prescott, and you’ll give the gift of sight to someone in need. If you have spare hearing aids, we can recycle them too. While I’m asking, we’re also having a recycling contest with two local schools to collect 500 pounds of plastic bags to turn into a bench, so if you have any to spare, please send them our way. And if you have a minute, park your car and join us for a cup of coffee and discover why it’s never dull being a Lion!