Periodically I marvel at how fortunate I, and so many others, are that glasses exist. Without them the world is quite blurry for me. I couldn’t see a person’s face when conversing with them. I’d have to read a few inches from my eyes. I couldn’t see stars at all.

I am grateful for all the inventions that support our bodies and senses–even the ones I don’t need because it is good to know they are there should the need arise.

photo by Karin Fisher-Golton (possibly the first photo she has taken in decades without wearing corrective eyewear)

But there is something about glasses that is easy to take for granted. They are both simple and complex. They have been around hundreds of years. I find it comforting to see them appear in old family photos and know people could benefit from that invention at times when so many others we enjoy today did not yet exist.

I rarely think about what life would be like without glasses, but when I do, I find myself in awe of what they accomplish.

Thank you, inventors. Thank you, glasses.