Hearing Aids for Grace
Hearing is fundamental to my life’s work as a professional musician. I am a music teacher, pianist, organist, singer, and choral conductor.
In January, I discovered that I have had severe hearing loss in the center of my hearing range ...my entire life!
I’ve been reading lips without knowing it, and being in quarantine has turned this into an emergency, as I can’t read lips when people are wearing a mask or there’s delay in online meetings. I can hear sound, but I can’t decipher words well. This is very distressing, given that I teach 250 girls to sing in the exact range of my hearing loss every day!
When one of my four children speaks to me while facing away from me, I can’t understand them. To be honest, it’s alarming.
My doctor told me most people with my level of hearing loss are extremely introverted as children (I rarely spoke until I was a teen) and shy from academics, because they couldn’t possibly participate. I’ve been piecing together a lifetime of memories. When sound was garbled, I thought it was that way for everybody. When a friend would whisper, I was completely lost. It’s been dawning on me the last four months how my entire lifetime has been influenced by being partially deaf. It’s both devastating and encouraging, as hearing aids will relieve my struggle and unveil an entire world of sound I’ve never known!
The nitty-gritty: health insurance doesn’t cover any of the cost.
I need to raise $6K, immediately.
I want to highest quality hearing aids, as I walk through the world through listening.
Please watch my video , even just to witness my journey. (spoiler alert: my kids sing in 3-part harmony!)
There’s good news! When I decided to ask for financial help, I thought of a wonderful way I can pay it forward: I started up an online singing group called ✨Soulshine.
I bring all my skills and enthusiasm for music, teaching, and humanity into this group. I’m freely offering it to vitalize our spirits during quarantine! All levels welcome, and you can sing whenever you like in the privacy of your home. Whether or not you can contribute financially, please accept my gift of singing together, if you like. Pass it along to a neighbor who is deflated or a grocery clerk who looks constantly stressed. ✨Soulshine is a delightful, casual choir they can join to lift their spirits. We’re in this together!
What if my troubles becomes the reason you end up w more singing in your life?? No matter how I have suffered with hearing loss, that would make it all worth it to me.
Sincerely,
✨Grace
Link to video
Link to join the ✨Soulshine group chat and have immediate access to warm ups and songs.