This traction on the retina, which is painless, sends a sensation of light to the brain that we see as flashers. People typically describe these as non-colored sparkles of light in one corner of the field of vision, usually affecting one eye.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond celebrated his 100th birthday in the U.S. Senate in December 2002; New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg is the oldest current U.S. senator; he is to turn 89 next month.
Leahy is currently the longest-serving Democratic Senator as well as the longest-serving U.S. Senator in the history of Vermont, and the current dean of his state's congressional delegation. Having been in Congress since January 1975, he is also the longest serving incumbent Senator following the death of Hawaii's Daniel Inouye, who served from 1963 until his death in 2012.