“Give light to my eyes.” Psalm 13:3.

Daddy has macular degeneration, the kind for which there is no cure, just worsening vision over time. It has taken most of the vision in one eye, and he just recently found out he has it in the other eye as well. However, the macular in that eye was masked by diminished vision from a cataract.

About a month ago the eye doctor finally decided the cataract was “ripe” enough to remove. The doctor said daddy’s eyesight in that eye could improve by 30 percent or more.

I had been praying for a long time that daddy would not completely lose his sight and that if there was something that could be done to improve it, it would be done. So I was glad for the prognosis of 30 percent — 30 percent improvement in one eye is better than nothing.

The doctor removed the cataract but gave daddy the bad news that he had macular in that eye, too.

For now, though, his eyesight is better than it was (improved more than the predicted 30 percent), and the doctor is offering to perform another surgery that will help with some fluttering he has been experiencing. He has also regained enough sight to be able to drive again. He still has his license, and the surgery performed in March gave him distance vision. (He was always near sighted.) He isn’t wearing glasses now except to read.
He and my mother would like to take a drive up to their old haunts in Wyoming and Montana this summer or fall to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, and it would be nice if daddy could help with the driving (and not just as a side-seat driver.)

Daddy reads all the time, so it is important he can still see to keep up with the many magazines, newspapers and books he reads. He has to adjust to needing reading glasses while before he would take his glasses off to see up close.

I am grateful for even some improved vision for my father. I believe even though he doesn’t have perfect vision, any improvement at this point is a miracle … one of so many miracles that have guided and preserved my father’s life in all his 88 years (his birthday is today.)

He doesn’t look or act anywhere near 88!

Even if his physical vision is impaired, my father’s spiritual eyesight is clear and becoming even more focused as he nears the destination he has been journeying toward for many decades now, the place where all that was cloudy and blurred will become plain and clear — and he will see his Savior face to face.