I get along

I remember the day I woke up deaf. 

     I became deaf when on a Tuesday morning last year. I went groggily downstairs, not even wondering why I didn't hear myself yawn. Mom was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a magazine. 

       Mom noticed my presence and greeted me with a smile. I waved, and mom mouthed good morning, sweetie. I furrowed my eyebrows and began to ask why she wasn't talking. 

       But I stopped in the middle when I couldn't hear myself. 

      I kept repeating words over and over, wiggling and popping my ears. Nothing was changing. Everything was silent and still. 

      By then I was freaking out and having a panic attack. Mom had rushed over to me in worry. Tears were sloping down my face, and I felt how my breathing was all shaky. 

      Mom finally tilted my chin up so I was forced to look up. Everything was blurry, but I lip-read: what's wrong, Avalon?

       I said I couldn't hear anything, and all color drained from mom's face, which just caused me to sob harder. I remember mom and I just sitting on the stairs, crying together for hours. 

     It's called Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL), which is loosing your hearing overnight. Apperantly mine happened because of malformation in my inner ears. Only one out of ten people with SSHL have it in both ears. I guess it was so bad that hearing aids didn't work on me, either. 

        But we moved on. Mom, Dad, all of my school classmates, and other important people in my life learned sign language. I used a whiteboard sometimes, but I preferred sign. My life isn't perfect, but I get along fine.