The sounds of silence
For reasons of pride or vanity (Kathleen was never sure which),Kenneth refused to concede his worsening deafness. She,conversely,was a realist,and she’d accepted her aural impairment with an equanimity that meant she alone wore a hearing aid. This ensured she could hear Kenneth perfectly well when he yelled “What?” for the umpteenth time each day,answered questions no one had asked and bullishly refuted arguments no one had made. It also meant that when all this got too much for her,she could turn off her hearing aid and retreat into a quieter,less objectionable world. Words by Paul Connolly. Illustration by Jim Pavlidis.