Emily's Eyes and Goofy Glasses

“Mom, will you help me read this poem?” Emily opened her schoolbook.

“My hands are messy, Sweetie,” Mom called from the kitchen. “Ask Jeremy to help you.”

“Jeremy, please?” Emily begged her big brother.

Jeremy sighed and sat next to his sister on the couch. “All right, where is it?” He looked at Emily’s book.

Emily began reading slowly. “There once was . . .” Emily squinted at the letters, “. . . a cat that said, ‘Noo-noo’ and a dog that said, ‘Ook-ook.’” Suddenly Jeremy burst out laughing. Emily looked up startled. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

Jeremy stared at his sister. “What? You weren’t trying to be funny?”

Emily was confused. “What do you mean? I was trying to read the poem.”

“Ahh, quit being goofy. Those words are easy.” Jeremy pointed to the page. “See? It says, ‘A cow that said, “Moo-moo.”’ Not a ‘cat that said, “Noo-noo.”’” Jeremy laughed again. “And ‘a pig that said, “Oink-oink,”’ not ‘a dog.’”

Just then, Mom walked into the room, wiping her hands. “What’s going on?”

Jeremy shrugged. “I don’t know. She was just reading funny.”

At that, Emily stood up and ran to her room. Mom quickly followed and sat down beside her teary-eyed daughter. “What’s the matter, Emily?”

Emily sniffed and tried to explain. “I don’t know. It’s like the letters smoosh together, and I can’t tell if it’s a P or D or an A or an F. It’s so confusing.”

“You know,” said Mom, “I think it’s time for an eye checkup.”

Emily stared at her mom, horrified. “Do you think I’ll have to get glasses?”

“Maybe. But what’s so bad about that? Lots of people have glasses.”

“You mean like Mrs. Quimble, the librarian?” asked Emily. “Her glasses are big and round, and they hang on a chain around her neck!”

“Well, you can get smaller ones, you know,” said Mom. “And you don’t have to wear a chain.”

“Or Mrs. Pringle, the school principal. Her glasses are pointy. I don’t wanna look like the principal!” Emily groaned.

“Emily, you can get glasses that are made for kids,” Mom assured her.

“Tommy’s got kid glasses. But they’re big and black, and they broke in the middle, so he taped them back together!”

“Calm down, Emily,” Mom said firmly.

“Oh, I just know I’ll look goofy with glasses!” Emily exclaimed and flopped back on the bed.

“You won’t look goofy. I’m sure we’ll find a beautiful pair of glasses that look perfect on you. I’ll go make an eye appointment right away,” said Mom as she left the room.

A few days later, Emily’s teacher announced to the class, “Since we’re working on our reading skills, next week I’m going to ask each of you to read out loud.”

Emily suddenly felt nervous. “Oh no!” she thought. “Everyone’s going to laugh at me just like Jeremy did.” Her stomach flipflopped as she imagined her whole class laughing hilariously as she read about cats and dogs instead of cows and pigs.

At lunchtime, Emily sat beside her friend Lizzy. As they munched on their sandwiches, Lizzy pointed and said, “What’s that?”

Emily looked up. “It’s a new poster the fifth graders made.”

Lizzy pulled a little case out of her backpack and opened it. She took out a pair of glasses and put them on. Lizzy peered at the new poster through her glasses. “Oh! That’s cool,” she said.

Emily gaped at her friend in surprise. “You’ve got glasses!”

“Yeah, so?” said Lizzy.

“They look adorable on you!” said Emily. “Why don’t you wear them all the time?”

“They help me see things far away,” Lizzy replied. “I don’t need them for reading and writing.”

“I have to get some, too,” Emily said, frowning. “I can’t see words and stuff very well.”

“Really?” Lizzy smiled. “I love my glasses. And I think you’ll like yours, too.”

“What makes you so sure?” asked Emily.

“Well, before I got these, everything looked fuzzy. But when I put them on for the first time, it was totally amazing! Everything was clear.”

“Wow! Like what?” asked Emily.

“Like petals on a flower. Flowers used to look like big, pink blobs. And I can see an airplane in the sky and stars at night. It’s so different now.”

“That’s so cool!”

“Yeah!” Lizzy laughed. “I remember when I first got them, I kept saying, ‘Hey, I can see this, or I can see that.’ My dad said I sounded like the blind man who Jesus healed. Of course, I wasn’t blind like he was, but I can imagine how he must have felt when he could suddenly see everything.”

“Yeah! That must have been great for him,” Emily agreed. “He must have been really glad Jesus helped him see.”

“And I think you’ll be glad, too,” said Lizzy.

The next week, Emily’s teacher called on her to read in front of the class. Emily opened her little, blue case, took out her brand-new glasses, and slipped them on. She walked to the front of the room, feeling a little nervous.

“Go ahead, Emily,” said her teacher.

Emily cleared her throat, “Ahem,” and began to read. “There once was a cow that said, ‘Moo-moo.’” Emily glanced quickly at the other students, but to her surprise, no one was laughing. Lizzy smiled and waved at Emily as she continued to read, “. . . and a pig that said, ‘Oink-oink.’ . . .”

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