Aging, Gracefully and Otherwise

Bought my new glasses today—my first pair of bifocals, only I got progressives so there won't be that little line in the middle of the lenses. $600. The new reading lenses for my old frames only cost me $37. I figure now that I've got some nice, cool new frames, I'll keep them for a while and just change the lenses, which will still be a few hundred, but not as bad as new frames and new lenses. At this price, I'll have to keep the frames for a while. They're cute though: frameless, with just a nosepiece bar and earpieces in metallic purple. They're really flexible, which is good for someone who's as hard on her glasses as I am, and special Varilux lenses that don't have a dead spot on the sides for the progressive prescription. Did all of this today after coming back from the chiropractor, where I've been going to take care of my wimpy back. As another woman and I said to each other in the eye glass place, it sucks getting old: back falling apart, eyeballs stretching, high blood pressure, knock wood everything else is still in pretty good shape. Then there was the little old lady with the cane who asked me for directions today on the way home: long time New Yorker's accent, climbing determinedly up out of the subway and toddling off to her appointment. This isn't a nice place to grow old, but I hope I've got that much gumption if I do wind up staying here that long. In the meanwile, I'm fighting off incipient senility with an ultracool pair of new glasses.