SybilSez...

Sybil Bruncheon has been performing on stage, radio, TV, film, and in various Vaudeville, burlesque, church basement, county fair, and sideshow....uh..."venues" for most of her 29 years. She is available for bookings for just about anything and can be reached at bruncheon@hotmail.com and on her website sybilbruncheon.com. She is a proud member of the Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. Her erdo number is 16.

This photo might not mean much to you if you don't know the context of it. You're looking at the glasses that I wear when I'm not wearing contact lenses to correct my 20/600 vision. ..that's 20/600 WITH AN ASTIGMATISM! From the time I was 5 I have needed my legally-blind myopia attended to, first with ridiculous glasses for my birthday in kindergarten, then with hard contact lenses when they first came out (which was always uncomfortable… and even dangerous!), and finally with soft lenses, a Godsend!

Then, out of nowhere in this tumultuous year (for me!) I was told I needed cataract surgery. Thank God my insurance was paid up and was comprehensive. ..and that I was aggressive with the year ending and deductible deadlines coming to a close. What you're seeing in this photo is the end of a lifetime of stumbling around in the dark, memorizing hotel rooms and stage sets, not recognizing friends who were only 10 feet away, falling asleep with contacts in, or losing them, fumbling for glasses that cost hundreds of dollars or stepping on them, or losing them as well.

It may not seem like much to you folks who take your 20/20 vision for granted. But if you're curious as to what it's like to be as blind as I was, go to your nearest drug store. Choose the blurriest pair of cheap reading glasses in the rotating rack on the counter near the breath mints, smear them with Vaseline, and then walk out in the street and take your life in your hands. This photo of my glasses and my computer screen is exactly what I'm seeing just two hours after my second cataract surgery. The bonus of having my impending cataracts removed was to have the new artificial lenses tailored exactly to give me perfect 20/20 vision. Perfect!!... and these glasses will now go into a drawer full of “souvenirs” of my past and gradually unfolding life… Oh, brave new world! I’m a bit overwhelmed ....and, forgive me. ..my vision is a little blurry... you see, my new eyes seem to be tearing up a little...

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