I am trying to look on the bright side.
When faced with difficulty, I often make terrible inappropriate jokes. Naturally, in writing, it's easier to stop myself and so I won't do it. But you have to admit, you put it out there and if the circumstances were different, it would be sooooo easy to jest.
But what I really wanted to say is do hold onto hope because they're making big strides in many areas of eye disease and we'll all keep our fingers crossed that your eyes hold out way longer than anticipated. The two most remarkable things I've ever see in person that were so much more awesome in person than any photo could ever do them justice are the Grand Canyon (and pretty much everything within 200 miles of it) and the Sistine Chapel. The amazing thing about both is I can still see them in my mind's eye, as vivid as the day I actually saw them. So yes, do travel now and get the sites on your Bucket List embedded in your brain now. Not only that, buy you'll have fun travelling to see them.
And, of course, you know I can rarely post something without adding a little vignette (is that the right word?) so here goes. My FIL lived with us the last 4 years of his life, from 86 on. He had macular degeneration (the regular kind). He had only one kidney which was only functioning at 25%, he had pulmonary hypertension, he'd had back surgery but still had pain. Seems like there was another ailment but I can't think of it right now. When he was 90 1/2, he developed pneumonia and it triggered his pulmonary hypertension. The doctor said he likely had less than 6 months to live. 2 weeks later, we invited an old friend for dinner. Jim came in and right away asked FIL how he was doing and FIL did some tsk-tsk-tsking and said "Oh, I'm OK except for this macular degeneration." My point being to encourage you to move forward with your plans and don't let anyone ever discount how much a person misses having good vision.
OK, I have to share this one, too: When FIL was about 88, we were driving past some farm fields and as we went by each one, he told us what was growing and how tall it was. He couldn't see much of anything but he could still "read his crops." My point is, eyesight is an amazing and complex thing and even though you might lose all or nearly all of yours, maybe you'll have so many things embedded in your mind's eye that you can still see the things that are meaningful to you. If that makes sense.
I'm sorry you have to face this but I'm so glad you have such a wonderful plan moving forward. Be sure to keep us all posted when you hit the road cuz I know I'd sure love it if you came here and we could have a get together. Although if I lived in TX, I'd travel west or north rather than east. But maybe...............
BW, was 67; now 74; M 45 yrs., T 49 yrs.DDay#1, 1982; DDay#2, May, 2017. D July, 2017
