Importance of Love

The doctors declared the surgery was a success and I was released from the Children’s HealthCare of Atlanta Emory Hospital. I was only six and I had just gotten my cochlear implant. I did not really understand the significance of my headache and the big white bandage around my head. What I did understand were the everyday needs and wants of a typical six year old such as demanding cookies and juice, watching Pokémon everyday, and playing with toys, but I never realized my parents were always next to me watching my every move with tight-lipped concern and caring. Time passed and my head healed, leaving behind only a prominent scar on the right side of my head. I was due for my first appointment for my new implant, so my parents and I arrived at the hospital and an audiologist greeted us. My parents nervously looked at each other and me while the audiologist plugged various wires into my implant. The audiologist said to my parents, “ I’ll start with a simple tone to see if it works.” My reaction astonished and pleased my mom and dad when I said, “I hear it!” I never really understood the significance of those words until I was much older. I realized that my parents had gone through the trouble of searching for every option to make my life better. They had spent the night in the hospital chapel praying for my surgery to be a success. They had attended to my every need after the surgery and did their best to make me comfortable. I had not really understood nor wanted the surgery, but my parents were thinking of my future.

I believe that having caring parents definitely improves a child’s happiness and love. I look back, and I am forever in debt to my parents, Paul and Linda, for making a better me.