This post is personal. Read it, or not. I just needed to get this out of my system and let the issue go, finally, to rest in peace.
Sigh.
Surrendering that independence is hard. Very hard. But my eyes are letting me down, little by little.
When I left Nevada in November 2012, I still had a valid driver’s license, but it was due for renewal in January.
So, after settling down back in Wisconsin, I applied for a WI driver’s license . . . and failed the vision test. Of course, it would have happened in Vegas, as well.
My home is situated outside the city limits, on a dirt road. There’s a supermarket about seven blocks away which is accessible from a back road without having to go out on the highway, so I’ve been taking myself shopping . . . unlicensed and uninsured . . . until just recently.
Over these past three years, my eyesight has been getting progressively worse. Even when riding as a passenger, I can no longer read highway and street signs until I’m right up on them.
I can no longer gauge the speed of an oncoming car, nor can I tell how far away they are.
At a stop sign or street light, cars crossing in front of me appear truncated, as if they’ve been cut in half.
My depth perception is totally shot. I am no longer sure where the front of the car is, nor its width when I try to park.
I have autoimmune issues, and my eyes are paying the price. So it’s time to hang up my keys. It irks me, even angers me, to have to depend on someone else to take me where I need to go. But I will not put myself—or anyone else—at risk.
Will I be able to keep writing? For now, yes, thanks to a 23” desktop computer—which is now over four years old—and God’s plan’s for me as a writer from this point forward.
If you’ve stuck with me through this, thanks for your kind attention. Understand…this is not a ‘pity party.’ It’s just facing reality. It is what it is, and God is in control.
