blink of an eye

Five years.
In several weeks it will be five years since that fateful day when I awoke to my life-changing hearing loss.
Five years.
Since that time, my whole world has changed. Can you imagine going to bed a healthy normal hearing person and waking up the following morning with bilateral hearing loss...near profound? Can you imagine being a music teacher to boot?
I really wanted to give up many times. Sometimes I think, how did I make it?? How did I continue to work? How do you go forward and not hang onto the bitterness that threatens to take hold?
Since that morning, so much has happened in my life. I have been through a lot. Too much I think sometimes. But I see my life now and I realize that as much as someone that survives an illness they shouldn't survive, walks away from a car crash that should have taken their life, I am here doing the unthinkable (teaching music as a deaf person) ... it must be in the plans somewhere.
Long story short... Five years later... I now have two cochlear implants. I am a bionic woman for sure! I am still teaching music. I get to occasionally work for the company that produces my implants, I am a mentor for those considering implants for themselves. I have two healthy children. I go to church every Sunday.
Not too long ago I played my flute publicly--the first time really since the hearing loss. It was the music prior to the baccalaureate service for graduates at the school district where I work. I was a little nervous, but once I let go of that fear and played. Oh, it felt so great!!
Last week I had the opportunity to speak for the state auditors convention. Tomorrow morning I fly back to Los Angeles to do a little bit of work for Advanced Bionics.
I guess if the sky were the limit... what would I do next?
Well... I still feel that nagging to write a book. My story is unique. I still hope to have more opportunities to talk about my story, whether it is individually through the people I mentor or for groups.
Now I don't spend a lot of time looking back. I stay busy. I focus on what is in front of me. I also don't look too far ahead. One thing is for sure... we never now what tomorrow may bring. I learned that things can literally change overnight, and the plans we work so diligently at... those can be disrupted in the blink of an eye.