Iremember the day I discovered I needed glasses.

I was in fourth grade and on an errand with my mother. I squinted at the blurry movie titles that lined the theater marquee as we passed. Then, just to check, I looked for the next road sign. Blurry. I was devastated.

It seemed to happen all at once. I could remember the crispness of movie marquees, road signs and cursive letters on the chalkboard days before.

I asked my mother what movies were playing. I told her I couldn't read them. We both knew immediately that it wasn't good.

For years I wore glasses, counting down the days until ninth grade when my mother promised me I was old enough for contacts.

Now, 14 years later, I can see clearly without the hassle of contacts or glasses.

Until my mother had LASIK done last October I had never thought of having the procedure myself. And after a couple eye infections due to my contacts I decided that I would love to work and play without the hassle of contacts or glasses.

I was a little nervous when I walked into the TLC Eye Center on Sept. 26. Everyone reassured me that I was going to be fine. But I couldn't help but be nervous knowing that there was going to be a laser cutting flaps in my eye within the next hour.

I looked up from a waiting room magazine twice to watch as people walked away without a stagger. There wasn't anyone to guide them. I had prepared myself for complete blindness afterward but, as it turns out, it's just a haze. A little fogginess, as if you weren't wearing glasses at all.

Finally they called my name and I anxiously, but hesitantly, walked into a small examination room.

I smiled when they asked me to take off my glasses. It would be the last time.

A nurse numbed and dilated my eyes for surgery and the surgeon marked my eyes to fit the laser to me.

It was a blurry walk into the surgery room.

I climbed into the chair and a handful of doctors and nurses began putting in numbing drops. They patched one eye up and put a speculum around my right eye. There was a little pressure but it didn't hurt. I looked straight ahead. My vision went fuzzy. Then they patched up my right eye and did the same to my left. In just a quick couple of minutes the laser had cut flaps in my eyes.

Then the doctor peeled back the flaps. My vision went really blurry and then to black. I could see only the light from the laser above me.

"Here's the laser, Ashley," the surgeon said.

There was a ticking noise and the nurses counted down from 18. The doctor then put the flap back into place and continued on the left eye.

In eight short minutes I was back in the waiting room. I couldn't believe how quick it was. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had prepared myself for. There was no pain.

My world was a little unfocused. But I could still see my boyfriend waiting for me.

When I got home I laid down for a nap, getting up every hour to put in eye drops. As I got up in the third hour I noticed how clearly I could see. I smiled.

"I can see. I can see," I exclaimed to no one in particular. It was amazing. Throughout the day my sight continued to get even more crisp.

As I drove myself to my follow-up appointment the next morning I couldn't help but laugh. I could see everything. Everything. It was amazing. The light poles a mile down the road were in focus. The edges of the road signs were crisp.

It's still hard to imagine that in one night, I had regained all of my sight. Just as fast as it seemed I had lost it, it was back.