Pāhonoa te oro

This happened a long time ago, but I still remember it clearly. The first time I ever had my eyes checked, I was in first or maybe second grade. I didn’t think anything was wrong — to me, everything seemed completely normal. During the exam, the optometrist suddenly got quiet and then told my mom that I was almost completely blind in one eye. She turned to me, shocked, and asked, “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”