"Happy birthday son"

Jacob, wow. one year and you are a teenager.. :-0

I am almost a little perplexed that those years have flown by.. :-)
I hope that the pressy you ask us all for you enjoy, but also you will look after it too.

I cant wait to get over there and give ya a hug mate.
I hope you enjoy the day. and your mates didn't give ya to much of a ribbin...

Bumps anyone.. :-)

I love you Jacob, with all my heart.

Always Dad. :-)
x

"Happy birthday son"

Today is my youngest sons 10th birtday.

I am very proud of you Keaton, and glad you liked your presents.. :-)

I cant believe its 10 years, gone so fast, yet been so great. :-)

I know you will enjoy the rest of the day, and hope that every present you get
is a present you like and enjoy.

I am very proud of how well things are going with you son, doing great
at school, and even picked out a an outstanding pupil in maths..

So much that you have been picked to have an extra lesson, along with other
outstanding pupils from other schools in the area, and a lesson with a difference.

Glad you enjoyed the first lesson, and learning eygptian maths.. interesting. :-)

Great going Keaton, I love you with all my heart, take care, and have a great day.

Love as always dad. X

"Lack of understanding"

Probably the biggest hurdle for a deaf person, or anyone with a commication difficulty.
Sadly.
But its true.
A reminder to a mate recently, as he had lost his voice, temporarily but never the less,
 he soon realised some of the difficulties that arise.
Doing the very things he takes for granted with difficulty soon puts in to a new perspective for them.

But, it goes, they get back to the "take for granted mode" far to easy, we all do,
 it is familiararity thats part of human nature.

The very simple truth in that is Its forgotten.
Yet for us its NOT forgotten.Its a 24 / 7 situation.

We ACTUALLY live with it.

Thats to easy forgotten by some of us, maybe alot of us.
But its human nature.

But its ALSO a lack of understanding.
If others understood that its 24 / 7...then they would understand it different.
Interesting is human nature, so we have to live with that, yet its interesting to try to understand.

Understanding is an important part of LIFE.

Take care.  : )

Tinnitus

Ringing in the ears.. or bells, whistles, etc.. jet planes?

All these can be descricptions of tinnitus, depending on how it "sounds"
yet tinnitus is more common than we realise.

It can and does happen to anyone at ant time.
It happens for various reasons, and has different causes.

Do YOU suffer from tinnitus?

Well I do, and it can be annoying at times, yet the best but hardest way to deal with it .. to me, is to ignore it.
Hard as it may seem, it works.

If you dont suffer from it, it may be hard to understand it.
It really is 24/7, all the time.. and worse at night, when trying to sleep.
Silence is deafning.

Does it just effect deaf people.. no.

I know of several friends who are not deaf, that suffer from it.
One of them, he is a couple of years older than me, has had it since he was a boy.
He says it was really hard back then to cope with it, and he really though we all had it.

I didnt get it till was 25. and I found it hard to deal with mainly because I am already deaf and struggle a bit, so this dam noise inside my head didnt help. : (

So in a way it has made my hearing worse.

So what can I do about it?
Nothing it seems, so I just ignore it.

In fact its only when I actually stop and think.. its gone.. that it starts again. : /
Like a reminder...

So best to not think about it.
I would be intrigued as to how many of you that read this do have tinnitus.

If you do suffer from it, and wish to post a comment that would be great.

I hope many of you dont suffer it. ;^)

Take care.

The question to ask....

Well something has certainly opened my eyes.
I have a question... what would be best?

Deaf from birth?
Or
Lose hearing at say any age from 15 upwards?

HHm.. think that over seriously before you
decide.

Why am I asking you this?
Maybe most of you are "hearing" and some of
you are "deaf".. Ive no idea but....

I met someone a few years ago, when I was at
southampton university, having tests done,
regarding having a cochlea implant...

He was in is late 20s..and he told me his story,
one new year was drunk and merry as most of
people in the world are as they welcome the
new year...
Got home, proper drunk.. fell down the stairs,
banged his head, maybe knocked himself out,
and... in the morning, he woke to..

Silence...and probably a bad hangover too.

How would you react to that?
How would that really impact your life?
How would you cope?

A scary prospect I would say.

Im glad to say I thought he coped dam well with
it.
After having the implant he conitinued with his
ambition of teaching kids.
That is what he does, he is a teacher in a
mainstream school.
Il not foget him or the warmth from him.
And big respect to the man for not letting it
defeat him.

I was humbled by some of the people there who had
these implants and their stories, most of them
were adults who lost hearing, and they all had
different stories and tales to tell.
Some were just kids, who all looked so happy
with WHO they were.
Yet so charmingly nice and talkative.

I learnt from each of them, but I learnt more
about myself than anyone.
I think both myself and my mum, who came with
me for support, and to learn with me all about
the implants, were moved.

I learnt to be happy with what I have more than
before, why?
Because I never knew any different.
they opened my eyes..

Now years later the same thought has opened
my eyes once more.. Why?
I have seen on a few forums related to deafness,
the panic, and confusion, and fear of the unknown
and these are people who have lost their hearing,
or have slowly lost more than they realise and are
to wear hearing aids...and are to rediscover hearing
but not knowing what to expect.

All perfectly natural given the circumstances.

So what is best?

To be born deaf, or to lose what you have?

Far more common to lose what you have than to be
born deaf I would think.

And that it could happen to "anyone" at any time.
Yes it could happen to YOU.

So I feel lucky..not to have lost what I dont know.
I feel lucky to have what I have.

Which brings me onto my next point.

If I had a Pound for every time some one ask me...

"Whats it like to be deaf?"

Id be rich.. ; )

The question to ask is not that..
The question to ask is not to me..
The question to ask is...

"Whats it like to hear?"
And the person to ask is....... yourself.

So ask yourself that..and be glad of the answers.

So did I have the implant? No...

Why not? Well I feel I am lucky to do as well
as I do and felt a child would be better desrving
than me for what they could give that child.
And they were young too.

And I didnt want to chance losing what I had.
Knowing if I lose what I have, and hearing aids
dont help, then I could re-apply to have an implant.
At £30,000 each..I rather the kids had them over me.

Till then il be happy. :^)

But......
I am dissapointed no donations to the charity have
been made.
Think of the children.
And give them that chance.

Ask yourself "whats it like to hear?"

Thats what the children ask themselves...every day.
Sadly.

And we all should help them.

The charity needs you.
No donation is ever to small for the kids.
And every little mounts up.

Click on the banner.



And empower the children... give them the answers.

Twins.....

If you are a regular reader of the weblog you will by now know that i am a very proud dad and i love my kids more than anything in life.

There is simply nothing in life as rewarding as having the love of your children and
being a proud parent.
The sheer pride and the joy in the heart that you feel when with your newborn first child..(or children in this case) is unbelievable...never to be repeated again.
It takes your breath away.
Makes you cry.

Its a moment thats locked inside your heart and mind... never to fade. : )

And today Micheal Green experienced what i just described.

And todays post is to wholeheartedly congratulate Micheal and his wife on the safe
arrival of healthy (and no doubt beautiful) twins.

A girl and a boy.. and like the good english gent to be, he lets his sister into the
world first.. ; )

Micheal is the owner and creator of the great "the how to" forum.
If you really want to learn "how to" market, or many other things that you may learn
then why not check it out.. and while there post a congrats post. ; )

Just Click here to check out this great forum, and post if you wish, have no fear from posting, as everyone is treated with the respect that you treat others.

Note the simple rules for posting.. they are displayed for you to see.

Take care and see you there..

Rob.

P.s... Micheal.. dont come down from the clouds for as long as possible. ; )

P.p.s Looking forward to seeing pictures of your twins.. : )

I hope this link will work.. : )

As i mentioned in earlier post i have wish to support and help deaf kids to
improve their lives, and i have great respect for the charity you see below..

Scott Brittner a father of two deaf children, and a great man who
has inspired me.
He had to raise the money needed to buy his two precious kids hearing
aids..and he did it too.. $10,000... alot of money.
But...

What a sad situation where the parents have to raise the money themselves.

I have great respect for them doing that, but its sad the government can "waste"
money in other ways, which often leave you sctratching your head in disbelief
yet ignore the lives of these children.. and their futures.

They deserve better than that.

So its left to the real peoople .. who care, the families and friends to do the best
we can to give these children the help and support they so richly deserve,
and the general public who without much of the help would not
be possible.

Every donation will directly benefit these children in need of help and support
and also the families of these children.
Every penny goes to helping these children have what most of us take for granted.

The chance to hear the birds sing in the mornings, the rustle of the leaves in the
autumn as they play in the parks, the rumble of the thunder in late afternoons
of overcast skies, and the laughter of others, and the softly spoken words of love
from their families and friends.
The words of widsom of their grandparents.

The very things many take for granted... we are all guilty of that.. even me..
and i am deaf.

We are not donating money just for the hearing aids, we are donating for the
joys and hope it brings to each child.. the feeling of pride they feel when they
can hear the words of love and encouragement from others.

The light hearted feelings hearing the birds sing brings, or the calmness of the
mind when hearing the waves break on the shore.
Or the tenderness of the "its ok" that mum says when they fall onto their knees
in the park.

Not only are your donations giving them the chance to hear, but also the chance to
"feel" and thats priceless.

Remember the time you hear the birds sing, the waves break on the shore, the calmness of mums soothing words.. the "feelings" they gave you.
How much were them feelings really worth?

I could not put a price on that myself... but its worth more than i can give.

But together we can all do our best to help and support these in need.

Lets all maike a difference in the lives of these children all over the world.
And lets start today.

Buy clicking on the link below, and donating and supporting this chartiy
you enrich a childs life beyond expectations.

Go ahead please make a difference..
your heart will "hear" these kids say "thank you"..





Take care,

Rob.