HollyAlonzo – Never Giving Up Hope

Thank God for the ability to adapt. We can get through anything if we try hard enough—even if it seems like we can’t.

When I lost my vision, my hearing because stronger. I believe everyone has this strong hearing, most just don’t use it. With sight, you t end to tune out a lot of what you hear. Being blind, I used everything I heard to tell me where I was, who was around, what was happening, etc. I though for sure without my hearing I wouldn’t know anything, which was a scary thought.

Well, Guess what folks? When you lose vision and hearing the other three senses intensify. It’s amazing what I can figure out by smell. Take women for instance. Even if 3 women wear the exact same perfume, they each smell a little different because of their body chemistry. I noticed lately that I can tell when someone is around by their scent.

Also, vibrations and things I feel. When someone walks by me, the floor vibrates. When Isaiah is playing, I can feel him through the floor running and jumping. When I’ve felt him playing and suddenly the floor is “silent,” it usually means he is either getting into something or has left the room. I have to go investigate.

I can sometimes tell who is approaching me by the way they walk. Edward is so light that he sometimes doesn’t make any vibrations. It depends on his mood. When he is thinking about something and pacing around, I can tell that and know something is on his mind.

One day I was sitting in a recliner reading my book. I asked “Who just came in?” It was my aunt. People asked, “how did you know someone came in?” There were a couple of clues that let me know. The first one was the cold air. I knew the door had opened, but I didn’t know if someone came inside or when outside. Then I smelled a different perfume that wasn’t there just a few minutes ago. Then I felt someone walking a crossed the floor. All these clues had let me know that someone came in, and there was a woman in the room.

You learn to pick up these kinds of clues unconsciously. Being deaf-blind isn’t so bad once you have adjusted. Don’t get me wrong, it’s scary at times—especially in public places—and it gets pretty lonely, but if you pay attention to the clues you can pick up from other senses, you can still get a lot of information and not be completely ignorant of things going on around you. Thankfully we have these other senses to fall back on. Like I said, Thank God we can adapt.