Blind to Beauty


It is summer time in the year of 1984. A boy, no older than 15, is getting ready for a day at the beach in France. As he hops into the car, his uncle pulls the car out of the driveway. Cruising along an old dirt road, he can’t think of anywhere else he would rather be. The boy turns. His uncle is talking to him, saying something he had on his mind. They look each other in the eye and then burst out laughing. As the man turns back on the road he quickly realizes that he is about to bump the car in front of him. He swerves to avoid the minor crash, and in his fear he turns the wrong way. The car has gone sideways into the other lane, right into apposing traffic. The boy looks wide eyed as a truck barrels into the passenger side of the small vehicle.
Next time the boy becomes conscious, he is aware of beeping and the squeaking of clean shoes. He is in a hospital surrounded by nurses and doctors. He begins to panic as he finds he is unable to open his eyes. He reaches up to his face and delicately fingers the fabric wrapped around his head. The boy hears a woman crying and realizes it is his mother. She tells him that his uncle is fine and that all force was on his side of the car. The doctor comes in and tells the boy and his mother the bad news. When the truck hit, the windshield shattered and a piece of glass three inches long scratched the boy’s eye. He will never be able to see out of his left eye again. The doctor tries everything. Surgery after surgery for days, each one a failure. They are even unable to replace his eye with a glass one.
As he leaves the hospital, after many months, he leaves all hope of “being normal” behind him. The next few years of the boys life are tough. Going back to school is a hard struggle. His friends fill his ears with words that stab him in the heart. No one can look at him without staring at his blind eye. When he talks to people, they don't realize he is talking to them. His eye is slightly tilted to the left, making it appear that he is looking in two directions. Every time he looks in the mirror, he sees the tattered, blood shot eye. He needs aid to do the easiest of tasks. He can’t even pour his own water. All depth perception has been lost, his world looks flat. Many years of stares causes him to wear sunglasses every time he goes out. He believes that nobody can see beyond his eye, to see him.
A few years later, and he does find a short unique dancer. The boy is now a man and he is married. They live a happy life going from country to country. While living in a small country in South America, a little baby girl is born. Innocent and knowing nothing but her father as he is, she loves him as any baby love hers father. Very little time after that they decide to settle in the United States, home country to the man's wife. Times are tough, new people means old fears and insecurities. Everyone he meets stares at his eye. It is as if he were 15 again, just trying to fit in. Not only that but he also must get over the language barrier. He has come into an English speaking country knowing nothing but French. Finding a job was not very difficult, for engineers are in high demand. The long hours are difficult, the barrier stops him from becoming friends with anyone. For 8 hours he talks to nobody
As time goes on things change. The man knows how to speak English fairly well and the daughter has grown. They are a family of four, for a baby boy has been born. Still the man's handicap is causing damage. His daughter comes home from school many days, crying into the open arms of her father. She tells him that she is being teased because of her father's eye. As she finishes telling her father the story, she can see tears in his eye. He whispers that he's sorry and she tells him its not his fault and that she loves him. More time goes on and the teasing continues but the daughter is older now, she can handle herself. The man has many friends at his work and is able to speak English very well. His life is going great and he almost forgets about his eye. Almost.
One day his son comes home saying that nobody wants to go to his birthday party. The man asks why, and the son replies,
"Dad, they’re scared of your eye."
This cuts the man deeply, and he decides to talk to a doctor about a fake eye. As the surgery finishes the man can already tell that it has failed. He must live with his burden. He makes his way back to his home and is greeted with love by his family. His daughter tells him something that makes him laugh, and he giggles with her for what seems like an eternity. He realizes that he cannot change the way he looks, and cruel people will always be around, but he has his family, and that’s the only thing he needs.
Years go by and the man experiences good and bad days. Good days such as getting promoted at O.T.I.S, or going Mexico with his family. Bad days such as when his family goes to the movies and were told the only movies available were 3D so the man is forced to watch the whole thing as a blurry screen. In order to see the items pop out before your eyes, you must have both eyes, not one.
Besides the obstacles that appear, the man is able to live his life knowing that his family is behind him no matter what, because they can see beyond his deformed eye. He can see the love that they give him each, and every day.
"We love you dad, just the way you are."