VALLEY — Optometrist Dr. Charles Brazeal has been serving eye patients in the Greater Valley Area since 1979, enhancing families’ vision along the way. Now it is his family that will be enhancing his practice.

Dr. Audrey Wood, Brazeals’ daughter, will soon be joining her father in pursuit of better eyesight for the Shawmut and surrounding communities.

“We’ve been talking about it ever since she went to school,” Brazeal said. “She’s been an optometrist for about 15 years and it just took this long to get it together.”

Wood is an independent Doctor of Optometry who received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Auburn University before graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry in 2004.

“It’s just a dream coming true,” Brazeal said. “We talked about it for years. She got out of school and ended up in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She and her husband ended up in LaFayette [IN] while her husband went to Purdue, then he got a job in St. Louis and later went to Chicago. By that point I thought ‘Well, I’ll never see them again.’ She kept talking about it and I’m so happy it has come to fruition now.”

Wood and her family recently bought a house in Auburn, and she has already started seeing patients in the office on 30th Street in Valley.

“I grew up [in Valley],” Wood said. “I know a lot of the people there and they know me so it’s just a hometown feel when I’m there, a lot different than where I’ve been for the last 15 years. Plus, its great just being close to family.”

Wood will be yet another member of the family working with Brazeal, as another one of his daughters, Anna Procise, works as office manager as the voice on the phone when one calls to make an appointment.

Dr. Brazeal’s office currently provides services including eye exams, glaucoma and cataract screening, contact lenses and a selection of frames. In his 41st year serving the area, Brazeal is excited to expand his business all while keeping his family close. Wood, who said she is expected to start sometime near the end of August, shares his sentiment.

“I’m excited to be there on a regular basis,” Wood said. “I think we have a lot of things that we can teach each other.”