To See a Volcano
By April MacNeil
My son sits across the aisle from me, his whole body
beaming with anticipation. Playfully puts on the
headphones handed to him by the stewardess. He turns to me
and signs, "I didn't know there were movies on planes."
I just smiled, wanting to laugh-and cry.
You see, Kevin is a handsome, blonde, blue-eyed
fourteen-year-old, who has been deaf since birth. But
throughout his life, I have tried to teach him not to give
up. And he hasn't, excelling in both academics and sports.
In the fall of 1997, I received a phone call from his
teacher. She suspected that Kevin was having problems with
his vision. We took him to the doctor and they told us
that he had Usher's Syndrome. His peripheral vision will
get narrower and narrower until eventually, he will be
completely blind.
"How? This can't be true," I cried. How could my
dear, sweet son be both deaf and blind? It was
incomprehensible to me.
When I finally was able to muster up enough courage,
the counseling staff at his school helped me break the news
to Kevin. He sat quietly, paying close attention to this
diagnosis-a deaf person's worst fear.
He is a brave young man but, from his body language, I
knew that he wanted to cry. However, he made sure the
tears waited. With all of his strength and smile he simply
asked, "Can I please go back to class now?"
Kevin's world was closing in on him and I struggled
against the rage and injustice of it all. A short time
later, after putting some of my anger and fears of the
future aside, I asked Kevin, "Before things really change,
what one thing do you want to see more than anything else?"
He thought for quite a while and then said, "A
volcano...I want to see a volcano, in Hawaii."
I choked back my tears and responded simply, "I'll see
what I can do," all the while knowing that short of a
miracle, there was no way I could take him to Hawaii.
I spoke to everyone...
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