This post was written by the daughter of a satisfied Eargo user. We have published her story as it was submitted to us. Thank you, Simone!
There is currency that is more valuable than the cost of a hearing aid, and it is the gift of connection.
Our family is not special.
We are not better, we are not worse, than most American families.
We are not more, or less of a family because of divorce, step-parents, and blended relatives.
But when someone in your family can’t hear, it’s not about a hearing loss, it’s about a connection loss – no matter the dynamic, no matter the demographic, the entire family structure suffers.
Hearing loss is about relationship loss.
It’s about a failure to capture the in-between moments that bond us to one another. It’s about missed inside jokes across the dinner table, or instead of acknowledgement, being met with a blank stare, or worse, silence.
And that, a loss of connection, takes a toll on the entire family, not just whomever can’t hear.
During lockdown, I moved back home to San Diego and joined the family owned construction business. With hopes of doing for them, what they have done for me, I am investing everything I have in our family legacy.
My dad, Didier, (pronounced Dee-dyay) founded his own construction company upon a bedrock of integrity in 1989, and the heritage of our family has been an irrational commitment to hard work and perseverance ever since.
Didier: consummate father, builder and patriot.
With that upbringing, I am committed to leveraging all I’ve learned with hopes of growing the family business for the next generation.
But you can’t run a business if you can’t communicate.
My dad has been a carpenter since the 1970s, and a contractor since the 1980s, when he founded his company. For those who remember, and even those who don’t, optimizing safety wasn’t the biggest priority for most of the 20th century. With car seats not even legally required till 1985, you can imagine how far behind hearing protection protocol was to child safety. Let’s just say far. Compounded by outdated stereotypes that real men suffer, it’s been decades of prolonged hearing loss.
Shrilling saws, raucous jackhammers, drum rolling nail guns, peppered every construction site then, as they do now, no matter the size of the project. Just imagine if your office had a boardroom where boulders tumbled in a dryer every day, all day, for thirty plus years.
Papa Didier with his Simone back in the ’80s
While I’m not opposed to yelling when necessary, I’d rather not when simply asking about the status of a bid, or name of a new client – and the same man who has been to 342 ballet recitals; untangled three pieces of gum from my hair; helped me with more math homework than should have ever been assigned; moved me in to my first place; and when I was 12, took me to museums after school every week for a year to ensure I had an innate respect and curiosity for learning – was getting yelled at, a lot, and it was bumming me out.
No one liked yelling. He just couldn’t hear. So everyone had to yell. Clients. His wife. Me. Subcontractors. The nice lady at the drive-thru. Literally anyone on the phone. You get the point.
He couldn’t hear his clients. He couldn’t hear me. He couldn’t hear telephone calls. It was causing a lot of problems for everyone.
The biggest impediment to his day, and a functioning business, was that he couldn’t hear. There was a complete loss of connection
And when my dad was finally able to (sort of) clock off on the weekends, guess what his release was?
Motorcycle riding.
Harley-Davidson motorcycles to be precise. More boulders in a dryer.
Because his passion is supporting veterans’ causes like American Legion and the Patriot Guard – the latter which is a motorcade that accompanies veterans’ coffins to burial and shields the families from protestors, both his pastime and his career had inadvertently conspired to almost completely rob him of his hearing – and neither was up for compromise. Both were innately part of his soul as a man, as a father, as an American.
Supporting & honoring our Veterans — a worthy passion if ever there was one!
For someone who has gotten so accustomed to not hearing for almost forty five years, while I was so frustrated for him, I was also unwilling to spend even five more minutes playing the yelling game.
I was over it.
I committed to finding the best solution. The best solution to improve his quality of living. The best solution for our family’s bond. The best solution for the family business
Eargo didn’t pay me to write this. I did it because once I got my dad the Eargo Neo Hifi System, so many people’s lives changed, I was beyond moved, and felt compelled to share the tsunami of peace it brought us.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, hope the life changing investment that blessed our family because of one little device might encourage you to pursue the same. Our time is so precious, why discount it anymore than it needs to be?
There is currency that is more valuable than the cost of a hearing aid, and it is the gift of connection.
Simone
San Diego, California
October 3, 2020
