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My Mom Refuses to Wear a Hearing Aid
Maybe I’ll ask her why
My mother lives with me. She’s going deaf.
It was apparent when she first moved in a few years ago. It’s only gotten worse.
Sometimes I am more patient. Other times I get frustrated. I try not to let it show, however. My Mom is a very sweet woman. But, she’s stubborn.
She’s over 80 years old. She has aches and pains. And she’s very set in her ways.
She’ll wear her reading glasses. She agreed not to drive when it was obviously no longer safe for her to do so. She is happy to help me when I need help, so after I got cancer, I asked her to do more. And that made her happy, because she likes to feel useful.
When she digs her heels in, however, it’s best to not try to persuade her.
She won’t see the doctor every 4 months like they want. She won’t go more than twice a year. She won’t try exotic cuisine. Or play games except the card game she used to play with my Dad.
None of this causes any friction between us.
However, her refusal to even consider a hearing aid sometimes does.
For the most part I try to adapt. I make sure she can see my face when I talk to her. I raise my voice. I repeat myself sometimes. I try to be kind and patient. Every once in a while I get frustrated, however.
But then I remind myself — how patient my mom was when I was a child. I can’t really remember how she was with me, but I saw how she was with my brother, and with other little ones. I know she was gentle and kind.
I should be the same way.
Besides, I’ve never asked her why she won’t wear a hearing aid.
Maybe I should?
