Let's back up a bit. Seems like this blog is getting a bit heavy. So, this post, is going to explore a bit of humor in the life of being hearing impaired.

I am walking down the sidewalk on the upper west side in Manhattan. I'm with a good friend and we are having a talk. Now, when you lipread, you have to look at the person, or you aren't going to have much of a conversation. Wendy is talking to me and as I walk down the busy sidewalk, I am looking at her face. "click, click, click". All the sudden, Wendy grabs me and saves me from having my legs entangled in the white cane of the blind person heading straight into my path.

People look at us in disgust as we are leaning against the wall of Zabars, we are laughing so hard. They think we are laughing at the blind lady, trying to navigate her way through the crowds. Little do they know.

Gut busting laughs will save us from taking ourselves too seriously.

I'll write more tomorrow.

marsha

So, what was the lesson going to be? I got a bit fired up. I noticed that no one was listening to anything but their cellphones and their mp3 players. It made me mad and I was going to let everyone know. So, I was on my soapbox a bit. Listen to me! You don't know what you are missing. Why do the mothers in the pick up line stay on their phones when their children get in the car? Those mp3 players, they can hurt your hearing! Ya,ya,ya,ya.

I should know better. No one likes to be lectured. All my rants, falling on deaf ears. I have a teenager, so I should know better. So, I retreated from trying to tell folks what to do.

Yet, I knew that there had to be some good in this "stuff" that had happened to me.

I just had to be patient and keep praying. Little did I know that a picture of a rowboat knocking against a dock would help me to remember and realize, that I could still hear through sight.

more tomorrow,

marsha

A deaf woman creates a book of photographs of sounds - chicagotribune.com

A deaf woman creates a book of photographs of sounds - chicagotribune.com

Well, this is my first post! To be honest, I have no idea what I am doing here in this whole blog world. What I do know is that I have a message that I need to share. When I was 27 years old, I was told that I would be deaf by the time I was 40. I pretty much ignored these words. The years that followed were busy. Big career, moved to Manhattan, traveled, married and had my one and only child, Gracie. What a blessed life. But, it was happening...and I knew it. Slowly, my world was quieting, growing softer.

Those first days when I knew that everything was changing, they were dark days. I can tell you that I watched many re-runs of Law and Order. I could no longer hold down the career, the phone was virtually impossible. I was sad and the isolation was terrible.

Sitting out on my back porch one day, I looked around at all the beautiful sounds. It was raining that day, a soft slow sprinkle of rain. A few birds were making a nest in the eaves and my dog was panting at my feet. And I couldn't hear any of it. My world was very silent.

I believe that life brings "stuff" and we are supposed to learn something. Well, at that moment I prayed. I asked God to help me find the lesson and bring something good out of all of it.

That is what this blog will be about. I won't change the world, but perhaps, someone will listen. I'll write more tomorrow...

marsha