I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

Looking back on my life in glasses

I was in fourth grade when fate joined me with prescription glasses.

I was sitting in the last row of the classroom, as far from the blackboard and teacher as possible. This wasn’t necessarily my choice; although I tend to be a backbencher by nature, the fact that my last name begins with “W” generally resulted in a spot in the back of every classroom with my bottom-of-the-alphabet compadres.

(I would imagine, what with all of the political correctness these days, the “Ws” are no longer exclusively relegated to the back of the class. But I digress …)

Something new was in the works that day: A class project was on the pull-down screen in front of the blackboard, and the teacher took turns ensuring we were engaged/awake by randomly calling on us to read portions of the assignment.

Reading wasn’t a problem for me, as you can probably imagine from my line of work, and soon it was my turn. Immediately, I began stumbling over one word after another.

First, I was frustrated. Then I was embarrassed. Then I was silent.

Maybe the teacher saw me squinting. Maybe she had a hunch. But in what presumably was an attempt to help, she methodically moved me up one seat in the row, and then another, and then another, as I continued to stumble over the words.

Now, I have to admit that by the time I was temporarily seated in the front row having displaced four or five chuckling classmates along the way — my reading difficulty was more a function of water in my eyes than my inability to see the screen.

Regardless, the teacher sent home a note suggesting my parents have my eyesight checked out.

Soon thereafter, I was selecting my first set of prescription glasses from among the five or so “youth” options available at Duling Optical in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Those black horn-rimmed beauties went through a lot with me — touch football games, Little League baseball, my first (and last) junior high dance, lots of good and some less-than-good grades, and the usual other collection of school-age fun.

I’ve worn glasses every day since, with 12 or so months off for contacts my first year in college — I wanted to make a good impression, I suppose, as if wearing glasses was really a life-changing negative.

It turned out the original “hard” contacts, combined with the wind and cold of Chicago mornings, just weren’t for me.

Every five or so years since, I’ve wound up with either a new set of frames, lenses or — pocketbook willing — both.

And that’s a long-winded way of explaining why my column picture looks different today. Maybe you noticed; maybe you didn’t.

The photo needed to be changed anyway. A few months ago, someone recognized me in a restaurant and suggested I didn’t look like myself.

“Your hair looks a lot whiter in person than it is in the magazine,” she told me, simply stating the obvious.

So now I will gaze out at you with whiter hair, a lighter beard and a new set of glasses.

I can see a lot better with these glasses, too, so it should be easier for me to connect with you now that I’ll be able to see more clearly if you’re wearing glasses or not.

TO SEE THE PROGRESSION OF RICK WAMRE’S FRAME FASHION since elementary, visit lakehighlands.advocatemag.com and search: glasses.

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by writing to 6301 Gaston, Suite 820, Dallas 75214; or email rwamre@advocatemag.com.

DISTRIBUTION PH/214.560.4203

ADVERTISING PH/214.560.4203 office administrator: JUDY LILES

214.560.4203 / jliles@advocatemag.com display sales manager: BRIAN BEAVERS

214.560.4201 / bbeavers@advocatemag.com senior advertising consultant: AMY DURANT

214.560.4205 / adurant@advocatemag.com senior advertising consultant: KRISTY GACONNIER

214.560.4213 / kgaconnier@advocatemag.com advertising consultants

CATHERINE PATE

214.292.0494 / cpate@advocatemag.com

NORA JONES

214.292.0962 / njones@advocatemag.com

FRANK McCLENDON

214.560.4215 / fmcclendon@advocatemag.com classified manager: PRIO BERGER

214.560.4211 / pberger@advocatemag.com classified consultant

SALLY ACKERMAN

214.560.4202 / sackerman@advocatemag.com

GREG KINNEY

214.292.0485 / gkinney@advocatemag.com marketing director: LAUREN SHAMBECK

214.292.0486 / lshambeck@advocatemag.com

EDITORIAL PH/ 214.292.2053 publisher: CHRISTINAHUGHESBABB

214.560.4204 / chughes@advocatemag.com senior editor: KERIMITCHELL

214.292.0487 / kmitchell@advocatemag.com editors:

MONICA S. NAGY

214.292.2053 / mnagy@advocatemag.com

RACHELSTONE

214.292.0490 / rstone@advocatemag.com

BRITTANY NUNN

214.635.2122 / bnunn@advocatemag.com senior art director: JYNNETTE NEAL

214.560.4206 / jneal@advocatemag.com designers: JEANINE MICHNA-BALES, LARRY OLIVER, KRIS SCOTT, JESSE DIAZ contributing editors: JEFF SIEGEL, SALLY WAMRE contributors: GAYLA BROOKS,SEANCHAFFIN,GEORGEMASON, BLAIRMONIE,ELLENRAFF photo editor: CAN TÜRKYILMAZ

214.560.4200 / turk@advocatemag.com director of multimedia: DANNY FULGENCIO 469.916.7866 / dfulgencio@advocatemag.com photographers: MARK DAVIS, ELLIOTTMUÑOZ interns: RACHEL CARTER, ETHAN HEALY, HILARY SCHLEIER, WHITNEY THOMPSON wildlife photography: ROBERTBUNCHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Advocate Media 6301 Gaston Avenue, Suite 820, Dallas, TX 75214

Advocate, © 2013, is published monthly by East Dallas – Lakewood People Inc.

Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material. Opinions set forth in the Advocate are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s viewpoint. More than 200,000 people read Advocate publications each month. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one copy per reader. Advocate was founded in 1991 by Jeff Siegel, Tom Zielinski and Rick Wamre.