I grew up knowing that I was different, and I hated it. When I started school my classmates made it clear to me how I must look to others: a little girl with an ugly lip. And I was deaf in one ear. I was sure that no one outside my family could love me. Then I entered Mrs. Green’s second-grade class. Mrs. Green was round and pretty. Everyone loved her. But no one came to love her more than I did. And for a special reason. The time came for the annual(一年一度的) hearing test given at our school. The "whisper test" required each child to go to the classroom door, turn sideways, close one ear with a finger, while the teacher whispered something from the desk, which the child repeated. Then the same for the other ear. The teacher usually whispered things like "The sky is blue. " or "Do you have new shoes". My time came. I turned my bad ear toward her, blocking the other just enough to be able to hear. I waited, and then came the words that God had surely put into her mouth, seven words that changed my life forever. She said softly, "I wish you were my little girl. " |