It was all the way back in 1962 when Lou Tomososki decided he would stop with his friend to watch the partial eclipse in the sky. Fifty-five years later, he’s still regretting that decision, according to a Today report.

Tomososki began to see flashes in his vision like the spots you would be see after a flashbulb goes off. And now 70, Tomososki continues to suffer from vision problems. He’s warning people to remember that they need to avoid the temptation to look at the sun, or you could spend your whole life regretting it.

On Monday, Aug. 21, the sun will be completely blocked by the moon in a 70-mile-wide “band of totality” stretching from coast to coast. For people within that zone, those couple minutes when the sun is completely obscurred represent an opportunity to look with the naked eye. But for everyone else, you should never, ever look up toward the sun without protection.

“The only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses” (example shown at left) or hand-held solar viewers,” NASA says on their website. “Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun; they transmit thousands of times too much sunlight. Refer to the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers (link is external) page for a list of manufacturers and authorized dealers of eclipse glasses and handheld solar viewers verified to be compliant with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard for such products.”