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Christian romance, clean romance, harlequin author, harlequin writer, inspirational romance, love inspired author, love inspired books
I’m half deaf. That’s my undiagnosed estimation of my hearing, but I definitely have a problem with hearing things. For years, my husband thought I was just being passive-aggressive when he’d say something and I’d say, “What? I can’t hear you.” But I was serious! I couldn’t hear him. And I thought he was being equally passive-aggressive when he’d say it again in exactly the same tone, just a tad bit lower than I could make out. It isn’t everything–just certain frequencies, I think–like the frequency of a human voice.
When I talk to friends on the phone, I’m a yeller. I holler away in joyful exuberance. I figure if I can’t hear them, they must have trouble hearing me, too.
We have a habit that we always pray before we drive, but when my husband prays, I really can’t make out what he’s saying. I know he’s done when he puts the car into gear. And once we start driving, when my son says something to me in the back seat, I can’t hear him unless he raises his voice. My husband can hear him the first time.
It’s amusing now that everyone understands that Mommy is half-deaf. It was way less amusing before we were all on the same page with that. Ironically, I’m also one of those people who need quiet, so I’m loathe to fix my hearing issues. If noise levels that are normal to me right now can be overwhelming, God help me if I got hearing aids! I’d love to hear more of what my family says, but I’d hate to hear more of the general racket of everything else around me.
I figure that a little bit of hearing difficulties are good for my writing. I can focus that much easier without hearing all the pesky noises that everyone else does. Pins dropping? I don’t need that. I find them just fine when I step on them. 😉
We are very much alike.
I began noticeably losing my hearing in my 30s from a genetic condition passed on by my mother. I didn’t thin it was bad enough to deal with for a long time, but when I would absolutely not hear something others were commenting on… I knew it was time. When my daughter told me my son had been up during the night sick, and I never heard him down the hall, I knew it was time.
I got hearing aids about a year ago, and I nearly went insane. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t gotten them, and I take them out at home. I only wear them out in public, at work, church, etc.
The world is a very loud place with them. EVERYTHING makes noise, and some of it is very irritating. It took me a month not to be driven nuts by the sound of my husband’s starched work shirt. 🙂 I’m watching a friend’s kids this weekend — five of them — and I’ve had to tell them several times to lower their volumes. It’s just too much.
So, I empathize… a great deal. 🙂
Not sure I recommend getting hearing aids, or not. All I can say is they do come out. 🙂
I find that I naturally listen hard for very quiet noises, then I’ll go investigate. Like you, I’m convinced it’s not bad enough to need hearing aids yet, but eventually, I’ll need to get my hearing tested. I see hearing commercials with older people in them, and how they are so joyful to hear things like pins dropping, and I think, “No, I don’t need to hear that. That sounds exhausting.” LOL!