So I Married a Deaf Man: Not a thing!

Sometimes I think we take our hearing for granted.

There are times when I have wished I couldn't hear my environment. You know, like when my kids won't stop fighting. Or when the person behind me can't lays off their horn. Or that person sitting next to you at the doctor's office apparently thinks you are an instant friend. (That is usually me...heehee.)

Those are the times that I wish I could simply turn my ears off. Sometimes Hubs is so lucky!

Then there are other things I wish Hubs could hear. My oldest playing in his first public piano performance. Or all my kids' first words and the cute things they say. Camden's laugh...it is hilarious, by the way. My daughter singing a solo. Brody's gentleness with his baby brother.

So many wonderful sounds that we take for granted.

That being said, I do not wish for Hubs to become hearing.

Nope. Being Deaf is a huge part of who he is. Being Deaf is not a disability to him, like many people think. He is part of aunique culture. A community. One that many people don't understand. I have heard it said, "Well, isn't it like a group of people with broken legs getting together and saying, 'We are the broken leg community?'"

It really isn't anything like that. These Deaf individuals have their own language; a language that is accepted, taught, shared and used throughout the country. Deaf have shared life experiences: discrimination, neglect, misunderstanding, education, etc.

Imagine living in a world where the majority of the people can't talk to you and vice versa. Unfortunately, you can't learn to hear them. In this world, you are always the man out. Always the one left not knowing what is going on. Always the one who people see as different, awkward, broken. Always relying on someone else to speak for you, to explain to you, advocate for you.

Now imagine finding a group of people who are like you. People who can communicate with you, on your level, in your language. No bariers. People who have been through a lot of the same things that you have been through. People who accept you for who you are and where you have come from. People who see your ability, not your limitations.

And though he is my world, my everything and I his, I would never take this away from him. Never wish it wasn't part of him. I fell in love with Deaf Hubs because of what his life has made him. A:ll of it. He is strong, he is kind, he is smart (he did marry me, you know), he is proud, and he loves who he is.

Good for him!