it has been such a week of celebration. we had very positive hook up appointments for little m's ears, and then a great therapy session today at her school.
it literally brought tears to our eyes when matt, standing behind m, banged on a little drum and she turned toward him. i can't tell you how many times in the past 6 months we have banged on that same exact drum, inches from her ears, and little m has just kept on playing, completely oblivious to the loud sound filling up the room.
every time that happened a little part of me died, thinking, we keep banging this dumb little drum, and she can't hear a freaking thing. today, she heard it for the first time. and we all got teary, including her therapist.
it was kind of weird: on the way home from school we stopped at costco. i hadn't really thought about the fact that it was the first time since little m's activation that we were in a public space with lots of people around. everywhere we have been this week, her audiologist and school, it is totally the norm to have cochlear implants; pretty much all the kids at her school have either hearing aids or implants, so she's like every other kid. as we walked around shopping, i realized that people were totally looking at her like, "what are those things on her head?" or i would turn in a direction and see someone look away quickly. they were just curious, but i did have a moment where i thought, "oh yeah. i forgot that this would probably happen."
when we came home i caught up on email and the blogs i read. my friend hannah, who i met at little m's school, and who is mom to adorable little vivian, happened to write this fantastic post about perspective today. it was so appropriate, thoughtful, and truly resonated with me; i encourage you to read it here. after so much activity this week, i feel joyful but worn out, and this post speaks so beautifully of emotions and thoughts that i have had myself in the last year.
(xoxo, have a great weekend)
so amazing. thank you.
ReplyDeleteGlad your life is cheery
ReplyDeleteI am all teary eyed reading your drum story. It's so amazing and wonderful and stunningly beautiful: I heard that! Hoping your weekend is full of continued celebration, friend! Viv blows kisses to dear Little M.
ReplyDeleteShe heard the drum!!! Yup, I got a little teary-eyed, too. I remember shortly after Ben was born -- he'd failed some tests, so we were starting to worry, but we didn't have a diagnosis yet. He was napping, and I wanted to vacuum up some debris around his crib. Neil said, "Won't it wake him up?" I said, "God, I hope so." It didn't. Yeah, a little bit of you dies. But you'll discover that all those bits of you start to come back to life in the months to come. So much joy ahead of you.
ReplyDeleteTo read that Monrovia is finally able to hear sound was amazing. However, to actually see it in action today truly left me without words.
ReplyDeleteThank you for having us join your little celebration today. Only sorry that we couldn't stay longer.
Someday we'll attend a party and not have to leave early because one of our kids needs a nap!
-Francesca
If you know the heart of a mommy who sees their child hear for the first time the only expression is tears of hope. Hope that was once lost is now hope for a future of beating drums, barking dogs, whirring of a dryer, the breathing sounds of a coffee maker, the buzzing of a bee. She will hear it all and as her vocabulary grows you get to be right there with her and tell her what the sounds are.
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