Getting your driver’s license …

Graduating from high school …

Getting married …

Having your first child.

These are rites of passage, major life events which have been defined as “a ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone’s life, especially birth, puberty, marriage, and death, and marks the transition from one phase of life to another.”

Well, I can add another item to the list: “having cataract surgery.” It seems like people my age are all having cataract surgery, and yesterday I joined the club!

My doctor asked me how I wanted to use my eyes, and I said without hesitation, “I want to read music without using glasses.”

I explained that frequently I have the dilemma, “Do I want to look at the conductor or do I want to see the music?” And overwhelmingly my answer is, “I can see the conductor in my peripheral vision but first and foremost, I need to be able to see my music!”

Therefore my doctor recommended that I get a lens for near vision rather than distance vision. This is a little unusual, because most nearsighted people like me dream of being able to see far without contacts or glasses.

I went to the eye doctor for a post-op exam today and to my surprise I can see both near and far! The miracle of cataract surgery!

You may ask, what about my macular degeneration? Yes, I still see straight lines as wavy, but my distance vision has definitely improved. I will continue to receive monthly eye injections indefinitely until there is another treatment breakthrough.

I went to the church to practice today to try out my new eyes and I did just fine!

Yesterday on Malia Ka’ai Barrett’s Facebook page, she posted a video asking the question, How fast can you read? Try it!

An average reader reads 300 words per minute. Your ability to read at higher speeds with good comprehension can dramatically improve your ability to succeed in school and in your career.

The skill of reading 400 words per minute or faster will work to your advantage if you need to read a large amount of text daily.

Or how about reading music?

I do believe that musicians have to be able to read fast, especially when reading baroque music with thousands of sixteenth notes—you have to read quickly to the end of the line to grasp the entirety of the musical phrase. Of course your brain has to then translate all those notes into movements of your fingers and feet, if you are an organist!

Even these old eyes can still read fast!