The Beginning of the Progression, Pt. 2

The day finally arrived to pick up my first pair of hearing aids. I had no idea what to expect. I rode the bus  into Nurnberg and told Former Husband there was no need for him to be there at this appointment, I knew my way to the Army Hospital by now.

I sat in the chair as the doctor placed the hearing aids into each ear. When they were both in place, he turned them on. I will never forget that moment. I looked at him and asked, "What is that in the hallway?" It was a women in high heels walking down the hall. I could hear people walking! Footsteps. I heard actual footsteps. How long had it been since I last heard footsteps?

When I got outside and across the street at the bus stop, I heard something I hadn't heard in years. Birds were singing. It sounded like thousands of them all around up in the trees. It was beautiful. I couldn't remember the last time I had heard them, I only knew I had known that sound before.

I took the bus only half way home. I decided to stop off at the other end of the park and walk so I could "hear" what I had been missing on all of those walks. I heard the water flowing through the creek, the whir  of bicycles as they whizzed by and more birds. I took my time, enjoying all the sounds and just listening.

When I got home, it was well past dinner time. My Former Husband was very upset and worried I hadn't been home yet. As I was going into the kitchen to start dinner I actually heard him cursing about my lateness. I called out, "I heard that".

I was also glad I had gotten my hearing aids when our daughter was born. I would have missed out on all those cute little baby sounds and gurgles, and not known when she was crying or in distress if she was in the next room.

The doctor was correct, my quality of life increased with the hearing aids. I never left home without them. Even now as I am deaf, and as imperfect as they are with deafness, I still don't leave home without them.