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In 1784, Ben Franklin developed bifocal glasses. He was getting old
and was having trouble seeing both up-close and at a distance.
Getting tired of switching between two types of glasses, he
devised a way to have both types of lenses fit into the frame.
The distance lens was placed at the top and
the up-close lens was placed at the bottom.

That would have allowed him to read this more recent poem:

My prescription glasses

When I was twelve,
my prescription glasses
rested heavily on my nose,
but through them
the flowers were colourful
and the fireflies were bright.

At sixteen, I needed a change
and new replaced the old
but I hated them sometimes
like I hated my parents
for the punishments and
the curfews they imposed.

Years have passed
and all alone, I sit and reminisce.
My heart missing the prescription
glasses of yesteryears
as I raised my bifocals of today to my eyes.

— Autumn

YOU KNOW YOU'RE GETTING OLDER WHEN...

The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals.

Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt, doesn't work.

You feel like the night after, and you haven't been anywhere.

Your little black book contains only names ending in M.D.

You get winded playing chess.

Your children begin to look middle aged.

You're still chasing women but can't remember why.

A dripping faucet causes an uncontrollable bladder urge.

You know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions.

You look forward to a dull evening.

You walk with your head high trying to get used to your bifocals.

Your favorite part of the newspaper is “25 Years Ago Today...”

You turn out the light for economic reasons rather than romantic ones.

You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.

Your knees buckle and your belt won't.

You regret all those mistakes resisting temptation.

After painting the town red, you have to take a long rest before applying a second coat.

Dialing long distance wears you out.

You're startled the first time you are addressed as an old timer.

You just can't stand people who are intolerant.

The best part of your day is over when your alarm clock goes off.

You burn the midnight oil until 9 p.m.

Your back goes out more often than you do.

A fortuneteller offers to read your face.

Your pacemaker makes the garage door go up when you watch a pretty girl go by.

The little gray-haired lady you help across the street is your wife.

You have too much room in the house and not enough room in the medicine cabinet.

You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.

There is another kind of sight about which the Scripture speaks. It is a sight in many ways more important than even our physical sight. The Bible calls it "vision." Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The vision spoken of here is spiritual vision, a sight which goes beyond our physical capacity to see or out need for bifocals. In part, it is a recognition that a new day is dawning and with it new opportunities to make the world a better place. President Ronald Reagan captured that spirit in his Morning in America speech in 1984.