“I Can’t Hear You!”

You know the FaceBook videos of toddlers who are deaf and with cochlear implants and they hear their mother for the first time? The surprise mixed with joy? Tony was at the hearing appointment, and he told me that was my initial reaction when the demo hearing aids were placed in my ears. He said my whole body flinched and my eyes widened with glee. For two decades+, I have had considerable trouble with muffled sound. Oh, the things I thought I heard. I wish I had written them down!

Emily Litella reincarnated.

Imagine teaching with this disability. No wonder I was exhausted by the end of the day. People with normal hearing don’t know how much energy it takes to put language together through contextual clues. Tony told the audiologist, “I just thought she wasn’t listening.” I know it must be frustrating for him. Testing I had done before only detected decibels. I would say “I can hear fine but it is muffled,” However, in the last few years technology has advanced: Now hearing aids can help with muffled sound.

Beyond excited.

Early hearing loss runs on both sides of my family. I remember annual August trips to Toronto to celebrate my Great-aunt Anne’s birthday. (How I loved her. We all did) When the family gathered at Park Plaza’s restaurant for the birthday dinner, we would be screaming conversation along the long table because all of the adults were hard of hearing. I didn’t know the reason at the time.

My high strung father would make sure we always went to quiet restaurants. That meant that no other patrons came in and the food sucked. By the end of his long life, he could hardly hear. He had hearing aids by that time, but he was constantly fiddling with them, insisting they didn’t work. I wish the technology had advanced for him, too.

Now I have hearing aids, adjusted just for my weary cochlea. (The ‘hairs’ are damaged or gone.) I could care less if people see them, although the aids are miniscule. The only visible part is behind each ear. I chose gold. 

Beyond thrilled

From Google: “Gold symbolizes the purity of the spiritual aspect of “All That Is.” It is symbolic of spirituality and development in the realm of complete understanding, allowing one to both attain and maintain communion, with the source of all being. Gold has been called “the master healer.”

I’m OK with that😉