Barbara J. Hamby

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Adventures of Aging

Recently I’ve had little pity parties for one, mourning the loss of so many of my women friends. Some have passed away, a few moved to be near family when they began to drift into dementia, and others I left behind in Vancouver when I moved back to Portland. I still communicate with some of the latter group and see them occasionally, but not often, as before.

Here in my relatively new surroundings, I have some swim buddies who are becoming friends, but the ones I see most often are somewhat younger than I.

This week I’ve been cheered by receiving notes of gratitude from three younger women in my life. It is wonderful to be appreciated while you are still around to enjoy the glow.

My son is launching a major career move in January, on his birthday, and I’m very excited for him and his wife. She is also taking a big career step that will help support him in this new venture.

Yesterday I had an evaluation by an ophthalmologist-surgeon who agreed that I am a good candidate for cataract surgery on my right eye. There is a several-month waiting list so I will have time to research the options that are available and decide on the degree of vision correction to be included in the procedure. I’m very excited about the prospect of improved eyesight. I’ve been extremely myopic since childhood and have also developed astigmatism somewhere along the way.

Until I covered my left eye and tried to read a chart with my right eye, I had no idea how hard the left one has been working to pick up the slack. When you can’t read the top line, it’s pretty bad.

I’m looking forward to the possibility of actually passing a slow car or truck on a two-lane highway again. I haven’t done that for years, because of my poor distance perception.

Monday and Tuesday we will be attending AARP’s safe driving classes for older drivers. This will be my third or fourth time. The laws change fairly often, so it’s good to get an update, as well as reminders of ways to adjust for changes in vision and flexibility.

Meanwhile, if the weather forecasters are at all accurate, we’re in for a wild weather weekend. 

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