Do you ever feel a bit freakish? You know, a little different from the crowd. Like you wore red on brown day? Well, I don't feel freakish, I am freakish. I have a regular family. One wife. A girl and a boy. I work a normal job. Construction pays my bills. I'm a regular dude...with electronics poking out of his head. But oddly this has never bothered me and probably never will. I'll admit I get a bit of a kick out of people staring at me while I'm checking out at the store. In my case, being a freak is a good thing. (what ever happened to Martha Stewart?)
So...I started to lose my hearing around age 13. No known cause. Nerve damage. I'm just one of those lucky bastards that wins one of life's lotteries every now and then. I've worn just about every type of hearing aid at one time or another...they range from tiny to "oh my lord"! Around my mid 20's my ears broke more than a normal aid could fix. Fear not....they've got an app for that. So I got implanted with my first CI (cochlear implant) in April of 2006. With a little rehab (my wife tirelessly reading words to me) I was back to talking on the phone and being a sarcastic pain in everyones butt in no time.
That was my right ear. Ol lefty was still sitting there numb. I guess I felt sorry for him...I'm left handed and all. So two days ago I had him cut open and implanted with the same electrodes emitting from my lucky right ear. Freakish. But hey, now my head at least matches. The next time you see something that makes you stare...an artificial limb...someone missing an eye...perhaps someone in a wheelchair...and they catch you staring. Don't look away fast and feel bad. Give em a smile. They might just be like me...enjoying the fact that you find them that interesting in the first place.
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3 comments:
As your mother, first of all I am so proud of you for your inner strength to write about this subject and to give others hope in the death world and also others that have so-called defects to encourage them as well. The two years I had to ride on my scooter it gave me an entirely different perspective on how the world treated people in wheelchairs. They act like they can't think or speak for themselves! Amazed me! I thank God mine was only temporary during the time my disease was taking over my lower extremity.
Yours is one of a lasting lifetime and you accept it which is of the utmost importance. You could have felt sorry for yourself, whined, became recluse, and remained deaf, but instead you chose to rise above all of that and become a survivor, not a victim. For that I am grateful for the strength you drew upon within YOURSELF that has always been there. May you now teach your children in your own special way to never feel victims in this life, but also survivors of whatever life throws their way as well. May God continue to watch over you and use you as an insrument in this life to glorify His Kingdom. Mom
Well mom, that was a mouthful. And I'm pretty sure you meant deaf world...not death world? You know I love you!
Aw, this post rocked so much. It's good to always get someone else's point of view and I loved hearing your take on why you've had the surgeries and how others have reacted to you.
Sometimes people are idiots and get uncomfortable at what they might deem "weird" stuff, but it seems like you have an amazing attitude and tolerance for those people. I think that's awesome, Dave :)
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