The Picture is Unique

I woke early, as usual. The sun was streaming in the window. I could hear the birds chirping. I blinked and I could see the photo of a beautiful face that always makes me smile. And then, I blinked again and reached for my glasses … they were not on my bedside table. Panic!

Picture it! For as along as you can remember you wake each morning, reach for your glasses, get yourself out of bed and navigate.  It’s routine. It’s second nature. Those glasses are your lifeline. Well, a little over a week ago I had eye surgery – a new lens in each eye. AMAZING! For the first time since I was about 8 years old …

I can SEE – without glasses!

In the middle of surgery

When I was getting ready to go into the OR, the assistant (one of THREE each with the name Jennifer) said, quite casually,

“The doctor likes to listen to music in the OR. What kind of music do you like?”

Oh now that was an easy question, thank goodness. You see I was just a little nervous about the whole procedure and it had nothing to with music … “Classical and Easy Listening – Andrea Bocelli is my favourite,” I said. “As long as it isn’t Country (the cry in your beer kind),” I added.

I didn’t think any more of it as I lay back (almost white knuckled). There were 2 procedures to be done – a different room for each. The first procedure went well … I just had to remind myself to breathe every now and then.  So that done, it was off to room number 2. As I settled back, I could hear the distant voice of Andrea Bocelli and it hit me – they wanted to know what kind so they could ‘please the patient’. Impressive!

It was then that I heard the song Andrea sang during the Easter performance, ‘Amazing Grace’ and just as the doctor started the second procedure, I heard the words “was blind but now I see”.

I started to laugh … not a good idea in the middle of surgery.

“Are you okay?” asked the doctor and that triggered another wave of laughter.  Now let me tell you, it’s not possible to explain anything properly when you have a face mask and your eyes are clamped wide open with bright lights glaring through. I managed to say “I’m great”.

Everything completed, the second Jennifer enters saying, “Now for Willie Nelson!”

My son and I were on the way back home when I told him the story.  His humour is as bad as mine and he got it immediately. We both went off in peels of laughter all the way across town

…  again, not a good thing when your eyes are swollen shut and you have to keep the pressure down.

Later that evening, I was settled in and looking somewhat like an alien, when it hit me.

Andrea Bocelli!

The Picture is Unique

Isn’t it intriguing how the mind works and how we view things.  Most of the time, we have no idea how powerful that really is. We explore the world around us, totally amazed at what we see – each of us with a different camera. Every now and then we may change the lens and suddenly we have a whole new perspective influenced by our day to day experience and external environment. Each time, regardless of the lens, we can rest assured our understanding of the picture is unique.

A steaming hot cup of coffee and my mind went madly off in all directions once again. There is so much to see, so much to do and I feel like life has been on hold for far too long. You know the feeling.

For those of you who have asked, “Who did your surgery?”, it was Dr. Christopher Jackman at the Jackman Eye Institute. He and all his staff were outstanding.

© 2020 Beulah Peyton Bouzane. All rights reserved.