Nele

Datum: 01.09.2012 | Kategorie(n): Leading Spirits

My name is Nele and I was born in 1992. I have had a glass eye on the left side since I am 3 months old. That’s when I was diagnosed with retinoblastoma and the sick eye had to be removed. So I’ve had the “advantage” to grow up with one eye, which possibly made it to the most natural thing there is to me.

I don’t remember when I first consciously thought about my eye. I mostly understood the follow-ups in Essen that I had to visit regularly as a child as family trips. But I do know that my glass eye never implied any limitations for me: I started to play the flute with 6, played athletic sports for many years, even tennis for a short time, and later exchanged my flute for a clarinet. So I was able to do any hobbies that I wanted to. Music and Running still belong to my hobbies.

Of course some people do realize that I am being cross-eyed from time to time and ask me why. I can also remember children asking me in primary school. I mostly just told and still tell them the reason why, tell them about my glass eye to often then look into astonished eyes. Most people who know me also know about the eye. Of course it’s not the first thing I tell about me. But if there are questions or it fits into context, I am happy and open to talk about it.

My eye simply belongs to my life. So I don’t actually think about it very often, which became clear during a visit to the cinema when I was 12. For some reason, I felt that it was a good idea to watch a 3D- movie. The 3D glasses back then, however, were equipped with one blue and one red glass… the disillusionment only hit me later. I still watched the movie though, as I had paid for it…. Anyhow, nowadays 3D cinema is no problem any longer.

When I was in puberty, of course there was one or another thought about the eye, I didn’t like the left side of my face, thought the eye would stare. However, I feel like every friend of mine was unhappy with anything really, no matter if the nose seemed too big or anything else. So as I told you, my life went pretty normal, and I think a short puberty crisis probably belongs to that too. But I also feel like that it might have helped to have talked to someone else affected in that time and to discuss worries openly. And I still pretty much enjoy talking to other people affected about the one experience or another.

I visited highschool, loved music class trips, I like to dance and party, meet my friends and enjoy doing sports. After taking my A-Levels I went to Ireland as an Au-Pair for a year, fell in love with Ireland, but came back and studied Psychology in Groningen. I now await my master’s studies and will see where it will take me. I am happy the way everything is.

Small „hurdles“in everyday life, like pouring in tea without spilling, are easy to conquer with the right tips and tricks. Most other clumsy experiences in my life are probably better explained by my personality than by the glass eye …. :-)

01.09.2012 | Leading Spirits