Besides needing my glasses for practical uses, such as seeing everything, I am also using it for this blog entry. Running about five inches across the face, they are jet black there and along the sides. A small curve of clear plastic along the rear of the face gives it a little more reinforcement.
I have had these glasses since I was in the tenth grade. My fifteen year old self wanted glasses like The Doctor from Doctor Who, and after a long stay at the Lenscrafters at some mall, she ended up settling on these ones. They have held up well over the years; never cracking or breaking. They’ve been through a lot.
There is casual wear and tear, but some of the coloring on the inside, when they’re on my head it’s directly beside my left eye, has rubbed off never to return. On the left and right of the inside, there are the small metal hinges that allow them to fold up and go into their case at night, and then unfold once again in the morning. From the hinges come a longer metal piece that extends all the way back. At first glance, they seem to be sparkly silver decorations. As I looked closer, I realized they are the entire side piece, and the black design of the plastic my glasses are made of are molded completely over the elongated metal. On the inner right piece, there are numbers: 52, a square, 17. A large space. 14, and then everything is faded beyond that. I’m only assuming these to be something about the certain style of eyeglasses I have because I cannot find anything about the brand online. I did get them nearly 6 years ago at this point. Things change.
As I said earlier, these poor glasses have been through a lot. At this very moment, there are fingerprint smudges, dust in the corners of the lenses, and scratches that are clearly visible. They also have nearly flown off my face in the midst of coughing fits these past few days. The scratches pictured in the middle of the right lens are the results of my poor decision to wear them to the beach. Or, that is what people told me. Do they not want me to be able to see? In 2015, I was on a month-long trip to Italy, the area my group and I were staying in was about one hour away from the beach town, so on our first weekend there we decided to go. I thought I was being careful, putting my glasses away so I could lay my head back and relax, but as I was putting them away, they fell out of my hand and into the burning hot coast of Rimini, Italy. So, there is some sentimental value to them because of how long they have been with me. They have obvious signs of wear simply because I’ve worn them so much and for so long. They have gone through everything with me from age 15 onward; high school graduation, high school itself, falling outs with friends, the making of new ones, two loves, my first job, family deaths, and now, they’re going through college with me.
It’s strange to think about an object you never usually think in depth about. My immediate thoughts when I realize I don’t have my glasses on are, “whoa, everything’s pretty blurry.”
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
As a fellow blind person, who will more often than not wear contacts, I share in the plight of worrying about being cautious in many places, and it’s why I so often prefer to just be wearing contacts. I must say I’m astounded that they’ve lasted six years, more than just overall maintenance, my eyes have changed too much and gotten far too poor to even consider wearing the same glasses I had when I was 15. So kudos to you in that regard as well. I enjoy how you can recall only small details about getting them, and that you had a reason to (beyond their intended purpose) and how much value you place in them. There’s something about the sentimentality you have to your glasses that outweighs many other things. People will remember fondly something like a memento, token, article of clothing that made it with them through good times and bad, as you described, two loves, your first job, high school, family deaths, and college, but beyond your having them through all of that, you SAW all of that through them. So they exist as a memento like the scratch from the beach in Italy, but you can remember the first time you saw your friend, or maybe your favorite movie, or your diploma. They serve as a reminder of everything you’ve seen over the last six years and that’s really remarkable to say the least.
As someone who can’t even see the ground without glasses, I totally agree that these things become part of who we are. Your glasses in particular have really become almost like a third arm to you in that not only do you need them, but you’ve worn this pair in particular everyday for many years. Glasses, whether brand new or old, are an absolute necessity for us blind folks, and are there to remind us of both the good and the bad.