Four Years

A few weeks ago, we took some time to celebrate Sophie's hearing birthday. It's been four years since the cold January morning that we referred to as "activation day" forever changed our lives. Initially, our early CI days were full of hard work, intense therapy, and lots of audiology appointments. Although we are still on an ever-evolving journey with a deaf child, life is quite different now. Our days no longer center around CIs and therapy and instead our biggest worries are consistent with those of parents of typical children. Sophie's language skills are pretty amazing and people are often surprised when they learn of her hearing loss.

For this year's hearing celebration, we spent time with family and Sophie chose her favorite dinner of quesadillas and ice cream cake. We also took a trip to a local children's museum and had a day of fun. I took a short video of her, similar to the one I posted last year. I hope to "interview" her each year on her hearing birthday; at least until she will no longer let me. :) Here's to four years!

Perspective

It's hard to admit that an entire year has come and gone since I last posted here. It's not that I haven't had any news to write about or have been too busy (although life is quite busy these days), I guess I just haven't felt like it. This past year has been an emotional roller-coaster for me and my family, as we lost my mother to cancer. It wasn't really a roller-coaster; it was more free fall, with us desperately trying to grasp onto tiny bits of hope for a few short months although we knew the finality of what we were facing in the end. Cancer sucks, folks. There is nothing more ruthless, unforgiving, and consuming. And it's just not fair.

As I continue to grieve and slowly start to heal,  I am able to recognize one thing that this life experience has helped me with - perspective. Attitude, point-of-view, outlook on life... Whatever you want to call it. When Sophie was born and we had gotten over the initial shock and anger of learning about her hearing loss, I thought I had gained a new perspective on what is really important in life. At the time, it was the most difficult obstacle I had encountered and I felt shaken and changed by it, in a good way though. This past year has been even more eye-opening and I can honestly say that I have a deeper appreciation for everything I have and everyone that has been by my side. I'm not saying that I owe this deeper appreciation to cancer or even admitting that anything positive has come from this terrible experience.  I just think it's important to recognize how tragedy molds us into different people than we were before. We are humbled by hard times and grow stronger because of them.

So with the start of this new year, I will be trying my hardest to focus on my new perspective and everything I am grateful for. I have plenty of updates to share about Sophie and her sweet little brother and I will post those soon.

Cheers to a new year and a new outlook.