ALL IN THE FAMILY

[schlomo]

All in the Family

For the most part, when our granddaughter Ahava visited us at Emerald Isle for a few weeks last month, she was a delight. Occasionally, however, she complained that she had headaches and stomach discomfort; and while doing homework, she became frustrated, short-tempered, and lapsed into crying jags whenever she got the wrong answer. Children’s Tylenol and Benadryl were ineffective. Her collection of games on her Ipad was the only recourse that always worked to relieve her unease. My wife and I were stumped. 

After Ahava returned home to Fort Worth, her parents wisely took her to get her eyes re-examined. The ophthalmologist soon discovered the cause of her mysterious ailments and moodiness: vision abnormalities. With specially modified eye glass lenses, Ahava was cured. She had never been prescribed eye glasses. Now she wears them faithfully and is tremendously fond of them.

I have for months been having trouble clearly hearing my soft-spoken wife when there is nearby ambient noise. And when I am at a busy restaurant or other public gathering, I have to unduly concentrate to understand the conversation around me and directed toward me. Sometimes, I got dispirited and tired from the effort. After a while, my wife thought that perhaps I didn’t hear everything she or other people were saying to me because I was preoccupied or even indifferent. I balked at this unflattering speculation, and I got a little testy, convinced that it was normal for me or anyone else not to hear precisely when confronted with lots of noise interference— from indoor fans to ambulance sirens.

One of my wife’s nursing friends told my concerned wife that I undoubtedly had a hearing loss. I was skeptical, but I agreed to get my hearing tested at Costco. Maybe the chronic hissing and intermittent fullness in my ears was a factor, although previous tests indicated that my hearing loss was insignificant.

Well, this time it was obvious that I had mild to moderate hearing loss in the mid-range and high-end spectrum. With the sample hearing aids I wore, I noticed that I could hear voices more clearly and comprehensively; I was no longer distracted and disconcerted from white noise. I quickly became a believer and happily anticipate getting my new hearing aids in a couple of weeks.

How fortuitous! Within a month, eye glasses and hearing aids come to the rescue respectively of granddaughter and grandfather. Now both of our brains (new and old) will be trained to accommodate our new enhancements. It’s a win-win situation, relieving anxiety not only for Ahava and me, but for the rest of the immediate family who were tasked with monitoring our behavior.