I am not deaf….

‘I-am-not-deaf-I-can-hear-the-telly-at-the-low-volume-of-15’. Admittedly, having the subtitles on helps, but still….. I am not deaf. Am I?

Erm….. it turns out that I am!!! I toddled off to the audiologist, confident that a bit of a syringing would sort out the sudden onset of, “Eh? What? Pardon?” and ‘I’m sorry, can you repeat that?’ patterns that I’d fallen into in recent months.

The audiologist was lovely. Very helpful. But disappointingly, she wasn’t at all helpful on the idea of syringing to sort the problem out. “You are slightly deaf in your left ear,” she said, politely. Oh. “Your right ear is not so bad but we would recommend having hearing aids in both ears.”

‘Eh? What? Pardon?’ I could hardly believe my ears!

I knew, in the last few weeks, that my hearing was definitely done for. I went on holiday to Tenerife with the Kenilworth Originals at half-term. Had a lovely time, great fun and games, fabulous company and so on, but found myself straining to hear quite a bit of the conversation…..

I then went on holiday with the Kenilworth Newbies and Andrew to Spain at Easter. On repeat: I had a lovely time, great fun and games, fabulous company and so on, but when Oliver knocked his glass onto the floor from the dinner table, I had no clue as to exactly where the sound was coming from. Equally, when any of the children played hide and seek and I could hear giggling, I wasn’t quite able to locate the sound with any accuracy. They definitely won most of those games!

Oh, the march of time!! Who’d a-thought it? Certainly not me!!

Anyway, I have accepted my fate and I’m going to have a go at sporting the new fashion that is consummate with my age and current decrepitude. However, rather than cough up another three grand for a new pair when John had a perfectly functioning three grand pair, the audiologist is going to recycle his.

I’m rather looking forward to it. Firstly, I might soon be able to hear what you are all saying, and secondly, I feel comforted that I’m going to be wearing something meaningful of the ol’ man’s. The idea might not be everyone’s cup of tea and feel weird to you, but gosh, to me the thought of it brings such a sense of closeness to him.

Hearing aids? Here I come!! Wish me luck folks!

Take care everyone. God bless.