I found that I had a need for hearing aids in 2011. It proved to be a good move as it improved my
life as well as my wife’s. She didn’t
have to listen to me say, “What?!” every time she spoke to me.
Six years later the hearing aids and the hearer have been
showing the wear and tear of daily listening.
At a recent family gathering my wife said something to me to which I
replied, “Pardon?” I had learned not to
say, “What?!” My wife then asked me, “Do
you have your hearing aids in?” I
did. I didn’t hear what she had said
initially. Nor was I hearing what the
other women in the gathering were saying.
It was time for another hearing test.
My hearing hasn’t changed that much but the hearing aids are
definitely not working as well as they used to.
I had the testing done and left the audiologist’s office with a new pair
of hearing aids to try for a week. They
are really nice. Hi-tech to the point of
being compatible with my iPhone. I can
listen to the person on a phone call without putting the phone up to my
ear. And there are numerous ways I can
make the task of listening an enjoyable experience and not an exhausting chore,
especially in a public setting such as a restaurant.
As the trial week came to an end I was debating whether to
get the new hearing aids or keep the old ones.
The darned things are expensive.
During a phone call with my wife and her voice coming through the
hearing aids I was telling her that I thought I should just keep the old
hearing aids. She told me in her
sternest voice, “No, get the new ones. It’s a matter of quality of life.”
“But I have you.” I replied softly, thinking
she would appreciate the sentiment.
“Not your quality of life, my quality of life!” That was in her sternest voice!
So I have new hearing aids and the quality of life is
better. My wife told our daughter that I
was a new man with my new ears. My wife’s
a new woman with my new ears. Her
quality of life, and mine, is much better.
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