Post #7 in the Blog Every Day in May Challenge, 250 words or less. Prompt for May 7: The thing you’re most afraid of.
My greatest fear is blindness. I greatly admire the blind who are still active and use their other senses to understand the world around them, but I panic at the thought of that challenge in my life.
I got my first glasses in fourth grade, and I was amazed at what the world really looked like. No wonder my artist uncle didn’t approve of my lollipop trees—most people could actually see branches and leaves on those trees. From that time on, I never wanted to go back to that fog I’d been living in. I wanted to see everything clearly.
I was only the second person I knew to wear contact lenses, starting at age 17. I love them. They give me a freedom of movement and vision that surpasses even that first pair of glasses.
I love to read. I don’t want to give that up. Audio books are enjoyable, but it’s not the same as looking at the printed word, whether in a bound book or on my Nook.
But especially I enjoy the freedom of being able to see everything around me. I want to see facial expressions and sunsets and dogwood trees in every season. I want to see horses running and children with copper-colored curls and old women’s hands. I want to see tiny baby faces and the Great Smoky Mountains and the spidery handwriting on a treasured recipe.
I love being able to see everything around me. I don’t want that to change. 
