[stylist] Beauty...In the Eye of the Beholder

[Amy Krout-Horn]

With all the discussion of love and eyes and the like, I wanted to share a humorous story:
In 1992, after losing my sight to diabetic complications, I developed infections and it was necessary for both of my eyes to be removed. Almost ten years later, I met and married the love of my life, who happens to be sighted. Our connection was based in our shared Native American culture and the fact that we're both writers. My husband new of my prosthetic eyes from the start, but I preferred to keep the cleaning process private. I didn't want him seeing me without my "eyes" on. One morning, after he had left for work, I removed them and put them in a pan of boiling water on the stove: a procedure I've since learned will damage the surface, but at the time I had been misinformed. Suddenly, I heard the key in the door and...surprise! Hubbies home, I'm standing in the kitchen eyeless, and my baby blues are staring up from a pan of boiling water. The beautiful punch line: He walked in, not noticing the mortified look on my face, saw the steam rising from the stove, and said, "What's cooking?"
Seven years later, I'm no longer boiling my now replaced pair of eyes; a pair which my husband assisted in choosing the color, which we both found very romantic, and I know without a doubt that this guy loves me...with or without eyes.
Amy