The Aftershock...

So I am going to be as honest as I can here. Our son is deaf. We know things could be worse, we know technology is amazing now days, we know you know someone who knows someone who is deaf and has a great life, we know that we will be able to handle it…and we know you are just trying to be supportive (and thank you for that)…but to us this was awful. Not awful in the sense that you love your child any less, but it is awful in the sense that I have no idea how to be a parent to a deaf child. I have no idea what questions to even start asking. Awful in the sense that my child may never hear his sister laugh, my favorite song, what his favorite animal sounds like, or his mom saying “I love you”. There are so many questions, so many unknowns, so many tests, so many roads…and here I sit just thinking to myself…”I feel helpless. I feel absolutely and utterly helpless.”

That was the first few weeks after we found out that Cal was deaf. Denial, anger, powerless and depression ran its vicious course. I won’t lie it was very, very hard. Tired eyes and damp pillows can vouch for that.

Then something funny happened. Cal started to smile. Our little boy started to coo. Cal’s little face would light up when I picked him up and suddenly our deaf son started to be just Cal. It was a subtle, yet crucial change for me. I didn’t have a deaf son. I had a son who happened to be deaf. This disability was not going to define my son. And that was my turning point.