A week went by in a blur, a stressful blur. I didn’t mention cataract surgery in July, because it’s very common if you live long enough. Eight days after that surgery, I read a number of lines on the standard eye chart and could read a card in my hand if I held it far away. The date was July 20 when I knew the right eye was working well. Last week the second eye was done. It, too, seemed very good. I gradually came to the conclusion that the eyes didn’t seem to be working well together. Because both were set for distance vision, John helped me buy readers to help focus closeup. Reading was still very difficult. I became aware that the right eye had a spot in the middle where there was only a blur. That screamed macular degeneration to me. My dad developed that when he was about 82 years old, and he was blind for the last three or four years of his life.

On August 17 the eye surgeon could tell that my left eye was 20/25. Great! I hadn’t seen that well since I was seven years old. When my right eye looked at the chart, the only letter I could read was the very top E. The doctor said several things could cause that, so we did a scan of the retina. He put a scan done several weeks ago on the screen, along with the new scan. One was flat; the other had a big bubble in the middle. My supposition was correct. I have macular degeneration. He quickly said, “Ten years ago we could do nothing. Now there is treatment for that.”

The office made an appointment for me with a retina specialist in Asheville for Friday. John canceled his trip to the train club so he could drive me there tomorrow. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.

My smile isn’t broken.