I wake up

Breathe in and out, and hear

Silence.

I get the mail

Hear no birds or cars,

Only silence.

My granddaughters come to visit

I see them laugh, but cannot experience the joy of their voices

All there is, is silence.

I am alone.

I am cut off from communicating with those I love

I can see them, I can feel them, I can smell them

But when they say “I love you”

I hear silence.

The misery of this isolation overwhelms me.

Where can I go? Who can I see?

How can I defeat this silence that has consumed me?

A silent car ride took me to a cure.

The Audiologist, a strange Doctor who probes and examines the ear;

She smiles at me and writes down:
“I can help.”

A few weeks follow.

I’m still trapped in my silent world, exhausted and alone.

But it’s different, there’s hope.

A returning trip to the Audiologist’s office

A promising sparkle in my daughter’s eye

I am fitted with two tiny devices in my ear.

And suddenly…

The silence is gone.

The whirr of the cooling system,

The hum of the computer,

The cars driving by the office outside.

So many sounds I’ve forgotten.

So many sounds I can hear!

But there is only one I am interested in:

I turn to my daughter and with a tear in my eye, I say

“I love you.”

She smiles at me and responds

“I love you too, Mom.”