A Message of Love

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Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.

— Helen Keller

The subject of this year’s Homeschool Dramatic Society play is a personal subject in my family. No one in my family is deaf, and I don’t know a deaf person among our ancestors. However, by the time I was married with children, both of my grandfathers were hard of hearing. When my mother was in her fifties, she got her first hearing aids. When my father was about seventy years old, he got an ear infection and suddenly became deaf in one ear. He soon got a hearing aid for the other ear.

When I was in my twenties, my ears got stopped up from ear wax. I went to an ear, nose, and throat specialist in Oxford, Mississippi, who cleaned them out. I remember the wonderful sensation of walking down the hall in his office and hearing my footsteps on the floor. It made me think of when Jesus healed deaf people! On a side note, I have never forgotten the display he kept in a glass case along that hallway. It was a collection of things he had taken out of people’s ears and noses — beans, safety pins — you name it!

When I was about fifty, I noticed that same feeling that I had had in my twenties and went to another ear, nose, and throat specialist in Cookeville, Tennessee. This time the result was different. The problem wasn’t ear wax. I had succumbed to my genes. This time a wax clean-out wasn’t going to solve the problem. The staff suggested that I make an appointment upstairs with the audiologist for hearing aids. “Not me!” I decided. “I’m not going to be an old lady!”

For the next few years, I said, “Huh?” a lot. Then, I ran into a young acquaintance in Gainesboro who excitedly told me about how her life had been transformed by her new hearing aid (she could only afford one). About that time, we began HDS rehearsals for that year’s play. As I sat in the pit beside the piano player day after day, saying “Huh?” I made a decision. “Lay down your pride, Charlene, and make an appointment.” I did just that. I got some hearing aids and loved my new life!

Not long before play practice began for Sign of Love at the beginning of September this year, I had an appointment with a local audiologist for a check-up. She suggested an upgrade because of the great technological advancements that have been made since I purchased mine and because of the very active lifestyle I live. So, while we were telling the story of the founding of the first deaf school in America, I was constantly aware of the connection between that story and my own.

That’s when I decided to tell you that I wear hearing aids. I have thought about writing about it from time to time over the last five years, but I talked myself out of it because of the prejudice against people who have hearing aids. I hate to confess this to you, but my thinking went like this: “If I say that I wear hearing aids, my readers won’t see me the same. They will think I am old and they won’t think I am relevant. I won’t be able to help them if they stop reading because they think I am too old to understand what they struggle with in their lives.”

Wearing hearing aids is not a symbol of getting old. It is a symbol of honest self-care. The decision to wear hearing aids is like the decision to brush your teeth. It’s a way to take care of yourself, because Helen Keller’s words are powerfully true.

I am on a personal campaign when anyone tells me they don’t hear as well as they used to. I am really not a pushy person usually, but if you tell me that you don’t hear well, I’m going to tell you that you should go see an audiologist. Here is one of the main reasons for that. New research shows that people who need hearing aids and don’t get them are more likely to develop dementia. Our brains constantly take in stimuli from our environments. An important stimulus is sound. We take it in all the time without even realizing it. If our brain isn’t taking in the sounds around us, we are missing powerful stimuli.

Our friend Miss Joy who lived to be 100 and whom I wrote about many times was very hard of hearing. She said one of my favorite quotes about hearing loss: “If you are blind, people feel sorry for you. If you can’t hear, they get mad at you!” Her words are true. I remember well the words one of my relatives said about my grandfather Daddy Leland. “He hears what he wants to hear!” she said.

Because I love all of you readers so deeply, I decided to share this part of my life. I love you and your loved ones too much to stand idly by while hearing loss “cuts people off from people” and while brains atrophy from lack of input. I love you all. For me this post is a sign of love.

When I got my hearing aids, I was sorry I had waited so long. Now, I’m sorry I waited so long to trust you with this part of my story. Now you know why you never see my hair behind my ears! 🙂

Jesus had many precious words about hearing.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me;
and I give eternal life to them,
and they will never perish;
and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:27-28

 

 

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