How Can I Pour Coffee If I Can't Hear?

My hearing loss has been frustrating.  Some days are better than others, but all days I realize there are things that I can't hear as well as I used to and I wonder how long it will be before some of them are gone completely.

When we're driving in the car it's difficult for me to have a conversation with the driver if I'm a passenger.  Unless the driver looks at me so I can see the mouth movements, I tend to misunderstand what I'm being told.  If I'm the driver, I keep my eyes on the road and miss a lot of what is being said around me.

For nearly 25 years I've been getting up at 5am and making a pot of coffee for my husband to take to work in his Thermos bottle.  I could make the coffee and pour it in, listening to the sound the liquid made as the bottle filled, knowing exactly when to stop so as not to overfill the Thermos.  For the past few weeks, however, I’ve resorted to pouring the coffee over the sink.  My hand is as steady as it has always been, but I can’t hear the sound of the liquid filling the bottle any more and I’m tired of wasting coffee on the countertop. 

My husband noticed my tears one morning as I mopped up the coffee with a paper towel.  “It’s not a big deal,” he consoled me.  “It’s just a little bit of coffee.  You didn’t burn yourself, did you?”

“No,” I sobbed, breaking down in his arms.  “How can I pour your coffee if I can’t hear?”

He held me, confused, until I could speak again.

“What does the coffee have to do with your hearing?”

I explained it to him and he smiled, not really knowing what to say.

I didn’t know what to say, either, but I continued to think about it and decided to write this entry in my hearing loss journal.

Until next time….