by Rebecca J on 2013-08-30
While my left ear is slowly waking up, my right ear has been busier than ever. Three examples. Last week, when my mom was here, she saw me negotiate two listening situations with ease. The first, the drive-through at McDonaldʼs (donʼt judge.) I used to avoid drive-throughs (besides for the obvious reason that fast food should be generally avoided) because they were just too hard to hear. I mean, if Iʼm hungry enough to go for fast food, then Iʼm going to be pretty mad if I get home and find out that I ended up with a spicy chicken sandwich instead of the original Chick-fil-A sandwich because I didnʼt hear my order read back correctly at the drive-through.
I was driving, so I had to place the order at the drive-through. Mom was poised with her listening ear craned towards the open window, ready to jump in if needed just as she has done in the past. (My mom has been doing this for a long time — sheʼs great.) And I ordered the food without having to ask the worker to repeat himself. Mom didnʼt have to jump in at all. It was so easy. Afterward, Mom and I were talking about it, and she said, “That guy was a low-talker. I had a hard time hearing what he said.” And I said, “Really? He sounded pretty clear to me.” And then we looked at each other and smiled, each of us recognizing a small but remarkable milestone in my progress.
Next, I phoned in a take-out order for dinner on the same day. (I should pause here and say that we do NOT usually eat out this much. I promise.) I called a local bakery, which must not get many take-out orders, because the phone rang forever before someone answered it. (Mom was sitting at the table next to me, ready to take the phone from me if the conversation started to go south.) I told the woman who answered that I wanted to place a take-out order, and I heard her mutter under her breath, “ʼkay, let me get a pen.” I heard her mutter. Thatʼs a big deal for me. And then I ordered our dinner without any glitches at all. After I hung up, Mom said, “Well done, Rebecca!” and we smiled again at another small but remarkable milestone.
Last example. My musical ear is coming back, finally. A few weeks ago, I was in a cardio class at the YMCA, and all of a sudden, I realized that one of the songs being played was the Village Peopleʼs YMCA! (Haha, right?) It was so surprising I couldnʼt pay attention to the instructor anymore — I was just listening to the music that I recognized suddenly. Also, I recognized the tune of the prelude organ music at church on Sunday, as well as the tune of the background music to a video that we watched in Sunday School. It would seem that, at least for tunes that I already know, my ear and my brain are working together pretty nicely to help me make sense of it all. Music to my ear indeed.
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