Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Hearing Loss and Cochlear Implant
Return
Disability depresses. It struck me today how deeply I sank into a chronic state of melancholia over the past few years. My ever-worsening hearing disability ate away at my optimism and tested my ability to right myself. I became an Emily Dickenson figure in blue jeans,… Continue Reading “Return”
Happy to Come Home
I am just running around town hearing things like a fool. Maybe I could be happier but I’m not sure how. A colleague said to me at the end of a meeting today, “You’re back!” I am. I’m back. I started to remember today… Continue Reading “Happy to Come Home”
Birds on a Wire
I made a phone call today. And when my husband answered, we had a three-minute conversation during which I said the word “what” only once. He seemed a little flummoxed. It has been at least five years since we’ve talked on the phone. Since… Continue Reading “Birds on a Wire”
10,000 Moments
I want to tell you about 10,000 moments. But I’m not sure how. Each moment by itself would be too small to see. Too fleeting. Like snow flakes on the lawn. How could one moment be singled out for description, made more special than… Continue Reading “10,000 Moments”
Thinking and Rethinking
I came down the stairs from the ear surgeon’s office and sat on the bench by the front door. “My time as a pitiful person is coming to an end,” I wrote on my phone, wanting to capture the unbelievable, the incredible in one… Continue Reading “Thinking and Rethinking”
Just When
Just when I started sinking, just when it became clear that the cochlear implant surgery was a mistake, just when I started planning my days around long walks by myself, just when I’d resigned myself to having my children speak to me in three-word sentences… Continue Reading “Just When”
Mr. Tan Shoes and Me at KFC
The other night at KFC, an older guy came in while I was waiting for my order. His hair was completely white and he wore those tan orthopedic shoes that are popular with folks fed up with pretending. He ordered a big bucket of… Continue Reading “Mr. Tan Shoes and Me at KFC”
Mama’s Baby Robot
My implant is live. I am now part of cochlear nation. It’s two weeks to the day since my cochlear implant surgery. The magnet inside my head just sitting there all lonely met its match today. When it did, and the audiologists activated the… Continue Reading “Mama’s Baby Robot”
My New Life with Adele
What am I going to do when I can hear better, when my cochlear implant is activated and I’m getting all kinds of sound and decipherable speech in my ear, when I might know what instrument is being played without seeing it and… Continue Reading “My New Life with Adele”
Waiting for the Brass Band
There’s a brass band way down the street. Part of me is excited for its arrival on my doorstep and part of me wants to lock the door and draw the shades. It’s been very quiet in my head for the past ten days.… Continue Reading “Waiting for the Brass Band”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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