The older I get, I find that pieces of wisdom and insight come from many unexpected places, things and moments. Yesterday, I experienced a moment of wisdom from our daughter (who is sometimes wise beyond her years...).
We went to the zoo yesterday (it was a PERFECT day! - sunny, slight breeze, almost 80) and the animals were all outside and the plants are budding and blooming. More than once, our daughter said a couple of times, "Do you hear all those birds?" I think there are still sounds that amaze her.
Since she got her hearing aids two years ago, the birds are something she can hear now (a sound that she never heard for almost 6 years!). It's one of those things we took for granted. I will never forget the first time she heard them, she got to call me from school to tell me she could hear birds tweeting. I cried and laughed when she told me, then told my co-worker who did the same thing. It's amazing the little things we sometimes take for granted!
As we were walking around the zoo yesterday, she was armed with her camera, she said to me at one point - "I am glad that I can see. If I can't hear everything, that's ok, but I would have to be able to see everything." The wisdom of an 8 year-old, and I think I agree with her. It amazes me how sometimes a small comment can get me choked up.
Disclaimer: I don't share these stories for reasons of sympathy or pity - I'm not sorry she has a profound hearing loss (anymore than a parent feels for their child who isn't "normal"). I share these stories because they are part of our lives and I find that sometimes when something is 'new' to her, it reminds me to step back from my crazy/busy life and take in the 'new' and 'small' things that are around me everyday and appreciate that I can enjoy them. I hope you will, too!
I guess I have to settle for this as my "nice picture"
Tiana's story (Princess & the Frog)
