When I was a youth of about fifteen, suffering from a bout of ennui brought on by pop Thompson's maths class at Campbell, I suppose that was the time when the squinting commenced.
Thereafter I wore spectacles.
When I was about twenty years of age I purchased contact lenses, and wore those instead.
Fast forward to 1988, the year I made an appointment with that eminent Ulster eye surgeon, Mr Eric Cowan, whose consulting-rooms were in Eglantine Avenue, Belfast.
In a sense, Timothy was quite avant-garde in those days.
Mr Cowan pioneered the ophthalmic practice known as radial keratotomy, whereby minute incisions are made around the optic pupil in order to correct or improve myopia.
I spent forty-eight hours in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, for this surgery.
It did improve the old eye-sight to the extent that I did not need to wear glasses.
My vision, however, deteriorated over time, and I decided to have laser surgery.
Let us Fast Forward again to 2017.
I was on holiday abroad in the bright sunshine one morning, at the swimming-pool of my hotel, when I became aware of a blemish of some sort in my right eye.
This blemish or spot is tricky to describe, so when I arrived home in Old Blighty I arranged for an appointment with the optician.
I was apprised that I had a cataract.
The optician wrote to my doctor, who arranged for me to see the relevant cataract clinic and, after many months, I was finally seen by the eye doctor.
I was informed that I had a cataract on my left eye as well, though I was unaware of this.
By this stage the cataract on my right eye was very blurry indeed.
I was reliant on my left eye for vision.
In April, 2018, I received a letter from the hospital letting me know that I was on a waiting-list for an appointment with them, though there was no mention of cataract surgery.
Furthermore, when she heard of my predicament and the indefinite length of the waiting-list for cataract surgery, she urged me to get it done instanter, and highly recommended her consultant.
I called the clinic in Hillsborough, which happens to be directly beside the war memorial and parish church.
I was told that an appointment with Mr Rankin could be arranged within a fortnight, and that surgery could be about three weeks thereafter.
Well, dear readers, I considered it and called them back for an appointment.
Mr Rankin examined my eyes again and explained everything to me.
I decided to go ahead with surgery as soon as possible, so it took place on Wednesday this week at 3pm.
Service, care, treatment, staff were all second-to-none, as they say.
I didn't feel a thing apart from some stinging in the eye when the anaesthetic eye drops were introduced.
I'm writing this piece at almost 6pm, fifty-one hours later.
The sight in my right eye has been transformed and, as far as I'm concerned, it's virtually miraculous.
It's almost like having a new eye.
In fact, my right eye - the one which had a cataract - now has better, clearer, brighter vision than the "good" one.
I have an appointment with Mr Rankin in a few weeks time for a follow-up review, when I'll mention the other eye to him.
