I was one of those little girls who was preoccupied with dreams of being a grown up woman who wore high heels and red lipstick. I always wanted a vanity table with secret compartments to hide all my girlish treasures and a big mirror to capture my grown up reflection. I imagined sitting at my vanity table for hours, playing with make-up and making myself look pretty. I got the heels and the lipstick when I was still a teenager, but I would have to wait for the vanity table until I was 40.
I was moving in with my then boyfriend (now husband) and wanted to buy something special for a little corner of the apartment that would be all mine. I looked at hundreds of vanities online and finally decided on a beautiful cherry wood table with a big mirror, lots of drawers and a beautiful matching bench. It was the vanity table I had always wanted. It was perfect.
When the vanity arrived, I was so excited. I unpacked it carefully and set it up in that special corner that was all mine. I filled the drawers with tubes of lipstick and make up brushes. I turned on the special light my husband had installed above the table and sat on the beautiful matching bench. I looked in the mirror, but I couldn’t see the contours of my own face. I would never be able to use the vanity table I had dreamed of since I was a little girl. It was yet another thing RP had stolen from me.
December 22, 2011 at 7:09 pm
hi there! i just joind this website a few minutes ago and was reading your blog, it sounds alot like me in some ways! I have ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) and am 20 yrs old with recently going though alot of vision loss in my only good eye. I have gone totally blind in the other eye in the past 3 years. I just wanted to say hi! and always know your not alone with the eye stuff 🙂
January 11, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Hi Jillian – I am sorry for the delay in my reply to you. I think I have been avoiding writing lately. I am so sorry for your struggles, but so very impressed by your obvious strength. I am very happy to meet you.