It's not fun not to be able to enjoy family visits because you can't understand all the talk. It's awful to have a young grandchild wonder why you can't understand what they say. You walk around corners or step back and bump into people you didn't ‘hear’ were there.
You can't use a cellphone, and barely a regular phone - even with digital hearing aids. You can't post on a ‘debate’ thread and try to watch the debate too because you have to read captioning. I can't enjoy the music I once loved.
I haven't attended large functions in years because I can't hear in a crowd. I can't hear the priest at a funeral or a wedding.... Sorry to be so off topic, but maybe it will educate those who don't have a clue. - And I thank you for your understanding.
I actually can relate to what you’re saying more than you might think because my own hearing is not very good. Especially if I’m in a crowd I can’t pick out what people are saying. I rely heavily on lip-reading - which I didn’t realize until I tried to understand somebody when I couldn’t see their mouth. I work with middle-schoolers in the after-school program and I feel badly that I have to ask them to repeat themselves so often.
I think there are people in my real life who would be surprised to think that I have 2 brain cells to rub together because they’d never guess it by watching me in a crowd of people. The web is a much better way for somebody like me to communicate. One-on-one I can get by OK, or if I’m speaking to a group where I’m in control. But the social situations that are supposed to be fun are pretty much just a spectator sport for me because of my difficulty hearing. I smile and nod a lot.
I was listening to a guy at church who is developmentally disabled and did the nodding and smiling routine. Afterwards a friend who listened to the whole thing turned to me and said, “Did you know you just agreed to come visit him at his house on Tuesday?”
Funny but also not-so-funny.
I believe there will be a Day when both you and I will have perfect hearing, and I think you will know better than anybody else how precious the voices and the music really are. What to others will seem like a sequin will be more like rubies and emeralds to you - in brightness, beauty, and worth.
Until then, we’ll keep pushing on. I hope you and others will realize you’re not as alone as you might think, and I hope those who have good hearing realize what a gift that really is. I hadn’t really thought about the phone situation. How many people have I heard talking about how lost they would be without their cellphone - yet that’s what you deal with every day. You’ve made the phone seem like a great gift to me now. And it truly is. Thank you! And may the Lord hug you extra-tight for me tonight.