I have never forgotten that little bench by the ocean. I remember the sun setting on the horizon as I curled up in my mothers lap. That was just a few days before I got sick. The doctors never figured out what the virus was, all they knew was that it caused Optic Neuritis in both of my eyes. Every day I would wake up and be able to see less and less. After about a week and a half I had become completely blind. I was only eight years old at the time. Now ten years later, at the age of eighteen, I am being given the opportunity of a lifetime.

    I swing my feet back and forth as I sit in the waiting room listening intently. On one side my mother is sitting holding my hand, and on the other my boyfriend, Oliver, is sitting with his arms wrapped around me. I can hear my dad’s loud, yet gentle, voice from across the room as he explains to my little brother what the doctors are going to do to me.

    My brother, Timothy, is eight years old now. I think he might be more excited for me to regain my vision than I am. He has been talking about it constantly and telling all his friends at school. I’m so grateful for him, and for my parents. They have filled every day with joy, even in the darkness that I live in.

    We found out about a year ago that a few doctors at a university nearby had discovered a possible treatment for blindness caused by Optic Neuritis. I feared that I wouldn’t be accepted into the trial since I had adjusted to my disability so well. Much to everyone’s surprise and relief, I was. However, the nervousness was finally kicking in.  

    I was going to be able to see again after all this time. Everything that had been described to me for years would be right in front of me. Part of me was excited beyond compare. The other part was afraid the real world wouldn’t live up to the one I had created in my head. Either way, I was doing this. I heard a door open and footsteps coming towards me from the other side of the room.

    “Allison, are you ready?” The nurse seemed very happy for me.

    “Ready as I’ll ever be.” I replied as I stood from my seat. I hugged my mom and dad before I left the waiting room. I could tell that they had tears in their eyes as the whispered good luck and kissed my forehead.

    “See you in a little bit!” Timothy exclaimed.

    “See you soon Timmy.” I said, blowing a kiss in his general direction.

    Oliver, with his arms still wrapped around me protectively, guides me as we follow the nurse into the procedure room where they will get me ready for the operation. He helps me lay down on the table, and I feel him brush my hair behind my ear and kiss my eyelids.

    “I’ll be right here when you get back, okay?” He reassures me.

    “Okay.” I reply as I squeeze his hand and wait for the sedatives to kick in. Soon enough I can feel myself slowly drifting off. In what seems like a split second, I am awake again. Groggier than ever before, but slowly and surely regaining consciousness.

    “You did amazing.” I hear Oliver say faintly. I am afraid to open my eyes. What if the surgery didn’t work. What if I’ll still be stuck in my own little world of darkness with just the pictures in my head. I slowly gain the courage to lift my eyelids and my heart sinks as I take in the black canvas. My hands instinctively reach toward my eyes.

    “Just relax.” I hear the nurse from earlier say. “Your eyes are bandaged for now. We won’t be able to take it off till tonight so the large amount of light doesn’t damage your eyes.”

    After ten years of living in darkness I don’t want to wait any longer. I can hardly wait to see the sunlight and the faces of the people I hold most dear. I’ve never even seen Oliver or Timothy’s face. As soon as the sun sets, I will see them for the first time. And I’ll see if age and stress have been kind to my parents. When I was younger they had the most soft, loving faces.

    Oliver and the nurse help me stand up and walk towards the waiting room. I barely hear my little brother running towards me before he comes barreling into my legs.  As I stoop down to hug him, my parents join. I hold back my tears as I am afraid to do any harm to my eyes.

    As we walk out to the car the sun feels warmer than usual. My sight goes from black to brown as sun light leaks through my bandages. I can feel myself smiling bigger than I probably have in years. I had forgotten until this point that I was finally going to see my own face as well. I had grown up so much since I lost my vision. I wondered what I looked like, even though Oliver had described it to me many times before. My thoughts are interrupted by my dad who shouts back to me from the driver seat.

    “Three hours till sunset.” He tells me. “What do you want to do?”

    “Let’s go to the beach.” I reply. “You know the place.” I thought it would be fitting that the last place I remembered seeing be the first place I see after my surgery.

    After going back to my house and packing the car, we begin the two hour drive to the seacoast. I’m still drowsy from the medications so I sleep for the entire ride. When we arrive my mom shouts back to me.

    “We’re here!” I lift my head drowsily and clumsily climb out of the car. The sea breeze hits me like a wave and I breathe in deeply.

    The sand is cold between my toes, but I couldn’t care less. Oliver and Timothy lead me over to the bench. That same bench I sat on as a child.

    “Go and play till it gets dark.” I tell Timmy and Oliver. “I’m going to sit and listen for a little bit.” For the past ten years, my window into the world had been my ears. I based everything off of sounds, and now I wouldn’t need to. My hearing would just be a compliment to my sight from now on. So for this last hour, I sat back and listened.

    I heard the waves crashing and the sand being kicked up by my family’s feet. I heard their kind voices and thundering laughter. Before I knew it, the temperature decreased drastically and I could tell it was getting dark. I could hear my family whispering as they walked over to me on the bench.

    “Are you ready?” Oliver asked expectantly.

    “Yes.” I said with as much confidence as I could. This was it.

My mother began unwrapping the bandages from around my eyes.

    “Close your eyes.” She told me. “And I’ll tell you when to open.”

I took in a deep breathe as I felt the last of the bandages fall off my face.

    “The doctors said your vision might be a bit blurry in the beginning, but that your eyes will grow stronger after a few days. So try not to be disappointed, okay? You can open them now.”

    The first thing I saw was the moon. It wasn’t particularly big or impressive, just a small crescent reflecting off the surface of the water. I was overtaken by it’s beauty and magnificence. I turned to my parents and saw that they hadn’t changed a bit. A few wrinkles and gray hairs, but still the same loving eyes looking back at me through the tears.

    “Allison, look at me!” Timmy shouted.

    I laughed as I spun around. “I always knew you were cute.” I tell him as I ruffle his thick, curly blonde hair. His face is almost perfectly round with bright green eyes and a little button nose.

    “Oliver next!” Timmy exclaims as he uses his own hand to turn my head.

    He has short brown hair and big brown eyes like he had always told me.

    “You look beautiful.” He tells me.

    “You too.” I say with a chuckle.

    I wrap him and my brother up in a hug and pull my parents closer. I close my eyes, returning myself to darkness. This time, however, it is by choice. I don’t want to forget this moment.