Making Connections

For me it started out with my brother, then my oldest son, people with low frequency voices that talk softly and, finally, anybody speaking when there is background noise. The sentiments are the same though.....don’t we all just want to connect?

Dear Daughter — A Hearing Loss Poem

Your voice is soft. You face away from me when you talk, distracted by something nearby. You cover your mouth with your hands. You speak rapidly and slur your words together. You laugh and talk at the same time. You cry and talk at the same time. It’s not your fault. You are a pre-teen girl. That is what they do.
But it is hard for me to hear you.
I do everything I can. I wear my hearing aids. I look at you to get clues from your face and lips. I remind you to speak up, to look at me, to speak slower. I remind you again. Sometimes I turn your face towards me. You don’t like that.
But it is hard for me to hear you.
Your father repeats what you say. Your brother repeats what you say. You repeat yourself once, twice. It starts off loud but gets quieter as the sentence goes on as if you forget along the way why you are repeating yourself.
But it is hard for me to hear you.
Should we write each other notes? Learn sign language? Pretend we are on the stage and enunciate? Get a megaphone? A special sound system? Not talk? No, not that.
But it is hard for me to hear you.
It’s not fair, I know, having a mom that cannot hear you. I would change it if I could, but I cannot. I will try harder, but it is really up to you. 
Please keep trying. I want to hear you.

Comments

  1. ValerieSeptember 20, 2016 at 7:05 AM

    A friend of mine who had a hearing problem tried walking round the house with a sign round her neck with the SHOUT written in large letters. It worked for a while. It's tough having a hearing problem... I have just one ear that's fully equipped but since I lost my husband there's no-one to talk to anyway, except the cat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ValerieSeptember 20, 2016 at 7:16 AM

    A friend of mine who had a hearing problem tried walking round the house with a sign round her neck with the SHOUT written in large letters. It worked for a while. It's tough having a hearing problem... I have just one ear that's fully equipped but since I lost my husband there's no-one to talk to anyway, except the cat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda dSeptember 20, 2016 at 8:03 AM

    That's a thought. My kids have been pretty wonderful about the whole thing but there is frustration at times.

    I am very sorry for the loss of your husband Valerie

    ReplyDelete

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