I heard an interview on NPR this morning with Sean Forbes, a 29-year-old rapper from Michigan who lost his hearing as a baby. I had to get out of the car for the middle portion of the story, so I wasn’t sure how he had gone deaf. But I had a hunch. I got back in the car for the end of the story and googled him on my Blackberry. I was right-- he had meningitis at about a year old. Now he has a major record deal, has created a nonprofit for deaf performers, and is being interviewed on Weekend Edition. Very inspiring. Goddamn it.
I drove the rest of the way home in hot, rib-shaking tears.
Given her big spirit and her already-obvious intelligence, there’s just no telling what Hudson might have done, even if she’d lost her hearing. She deserved the chance. She deserved a long, beautiful life. We deserved a long life with her in it.
It’s just so ridiculously unfair.
It's not at all fair. No question about it. I'm praying for you to find peace.
ReplyDeleteIt's very poor consolation, since Hudson was a star and would have continued to be, but did she make a tremendous difference in the world. She's inspired so many others to try to do the same, to remember the important things in life, to delight in the little things, to forgive easily, and to be kind and friendly.
ReplyDeleteIt's not fair at all. After reading this -- and learning from your Facebook post about Neil's death -- the feeling of despair over the unfairness of this all is overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteDear Mandy,
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother lost her hearing at age 7 to meningitis, and was lucky to have survived, especially in those days. She lived a long life with daughters and grandchildren, and I would type messages to her on the TTY all through my childhood. She even received a cochlear implant late in her life, although she never much liked it. Hudson obviously deserved all those chances too.
Michael Zwirn
Sometimes the only response is 'Goddamn.'
ReplyDeleteYour girl should have had a chance. I only know Hudson via the words that I have read on your blog this evening but I can see her intelligence and her zest for life shining through from all your memories of her.
It is terribly, terribly unfair.
It is so, so unfair. I hate it, and I hate what has happened to Neil. I wish so much that good people could be spared heartache.
ReplyDeleteSaw your comment at mamapundit and wandered over. With regards to your post that there will be always a hole in your family, you are right. But future babies/children will prove to be incredibly healing for your sorrow. The sorrow won't go away, but it will be mixed and leavened with joy and love.
ReplyDeleteUnfair doesn't touch how wrong it is. It is so, so wrong.
ReplyDeleteBeing the "case report" totally sucks and is beyond unfair. Veronica's heart condition, had it been detected prior to death, is associated with an excellent prognosis. Cardiologists I consulted after her death said, this sort of thing just doesn't happen(correction: it does, did and shut the f up because you clearly don't know what you are talking about). I'm so sorry Hudson never had a chance.
ReplyDeleteSo terribly unfair indeed. Hold on Mandy, hold on...light will come again.
ReplyDelete"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'.”
ReplyDelete