A man beyond his ears

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I can't remember when my Dad started wearing glasses full time. He doesn't have them in photos from when I was a kid or in my teens, so I'm guessing it was some time around his 50s.

But he had a very particular way of wearing them that was uniquely Frank. Whether it was because he never got ones that fit him properly or he didn't like the way they felt either on his ears or too tightly across the bridge of his nose, he always had the tips of the arms perched on top of his ears instead of curled over them.

It's a detail I and everyone else around us might never have noticed, except that my mother's repeated refrain when she snapped 'put your glasses on your face' was as familiar to me as his face was – including the glasses.

It's possible now I look back he did it because he knew how to (and enjoyed) pushing her buttons. I sometimes have no idea how they stayed married as long as they did, but I wouldn't be here otherwise I suppose, and as with everything, now he's gone I wish he was still here with his glasses perched up on top of his ears.


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