Thursday, February 14, 2013

A Chance Meeting



The first time I noticed Arnold I didn't even know it was him. It was over a phone call in the airport. 

Ok, actually it was a voicemail, but we were in the airport!  We were on our annual trip to New Jersey to see Greg's family.  We visit once a year sometime during the summer.  That particular year (2011) we were going in early August for Greg's cousin's wedding.


Dad had dropped us off and he had a new headset for his cell phone. He had not tried it out yet, but he was excited to have it and would be able to use it when he was waiting for our return flight. 

Dad had called and left a message on my cell phone. We were busy going through security so I did not know he had called. When I saw that I had a voice-mail from him, I was concerned there was something wrong since he had just dropped us off. So, as we were moving along the people mover I attempted to listen to his message.
 

If you don't remember what it is like in the airport, it's actually quite noisy. There are lots of things going on and all kinds of announcements every few minutes. When I was trying to listen to Dad's message on my right ear, I could hardly understand what he was saying.  I had the volume on my phone turned all the way up, too.  I had a flash of concern.  Greg had been saying for months now that "[I] just don't hear very well," as though if I just tried harder I could overcome such an ailment.  Now, however, I was afraid maybe there was something to these accusations.
 

We reached the end of the people mover where our gate was and the kids found something fun with which to play. With the kids thus entertained, Greg sent me back the other direction to get food.  So I hopped back onto the people mover. I decided to try to listen to Dad's message again since it was quieter, no announcements. I listened on my left ear and heard it with no problem. He was calling to test out his new headset, so it was nothing urgent. 

This raised some suspicion in my mind that something might be wrong.  But, then again, when I had tried to listen to the message the first time, it was very noisy with someone announcing something over the PA system.  I did not have much time to explore what was going on at the airport, so left it alone.

That evening after settling in at Greg's parent's house, I decided to try to listen to Dad's message again on both ears.  In the quiet of the guest room, I could hear the message fine in both ears.  There was a very slight difference from left to right, but it was so little I decided not to worry about it.  Next time I talked to my doctor maybe I would mention it.

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