“For Granted” is such a cliché phrase that we really don’t take its true meaning to heart. It’s human nature to take so many things “for granted” and I am not pointing any fingers because I am as guilty as they come.

It seems like we only use this phrase when we are without something we usually have.

Every morning I wake up and go running at Northeast Park. When I get there and step out of my car I just stand there for a minute and take a deep breath and just listen to the morning.

I hear birds chirping, cows mooing and all the other unique sounds of the outdoors at 5:30 a.m. It’s so amazing and relaxing. After a few minutes of stretching I place my earphones in my ear, push play on my iPod and off I go. It’s a great feeling — one I take for granted.

Last Wednesday I received an e-mail from my sister-in-law with some very bad news. My 13-year-old nephew Jacob has lost his hearing. The thought of that has been eating at my heart ever since.

This is crazy! A 13-year-old boy who is a Straight A student in the 8th grade should be worrying about girls, sports, braces and zits!

He shouldn’t be worried about being able to hear the sound of my brother yelling at him to get down on that ground ball, or his mom telling him that she loves him, or the roar of the crowd when he scores a touchdown on me when we play Sony PlayStation college football at Christmas (he still won’t tell me what all the buttons on the controller do).

When is the last time you thought to yourself: “that person will just not stop talking”? Imagine just wanting to hear someone rambling. How does a 13 year old deal with this? Not only has he lost his hearing, but now will only be able to go to school part time and have to be home schooled the other half.

So not only has he lost his hearing he has lost some contact with his friends at school. What does my brother say to him to keep his spirits up? That is an ongoing conversation that requires unemotional encouragement. Although, I will say that my brother is the right guy for the job because if anyone can do it he can.

I ask myself if I could handle the loss of my hearing at my age? The answer: No! I just expect to wake up every morning to the sound of my alarm and head to the park for my morning routine with the sounds of nature and music. Could you imagine how lonely you would feel if the only voice you could hear was the one in your head?

So I plead to all of the “for granted” challenged people, the next time you are stressed about a bad hair day, work, traffic … or whatever stresses you out, remember that it’s temporary. Think about being stressed about something you could not change. Next time you are praying say thank you for all the things that you take “for granted.”

Keep your head up Jake … your uncle loves you.



Richard Maloof is advertising director of The Meridian Star.

E-mail him at rmaloof@themeridianstar.com.