Raising CODA Aliw Pablo: Hi Hershey, how are you? Hershey Cruz: I'm good. How are you? Aliw Pablo: I'm good. I'm good. I'm so glad that you agreed to do this with us. But you know… Aliw Pablo: This is Hershey. A wife and a mom of two beautiful kids, and a very close family friend of ours. And since meeting the David family from our episodes on growing up CODA or children of deaf adults, hearing their story made me think about Hershey. And here's why. Hershey Cruz: I am currently deaf, that's how I identify. But I was not born deaf. I was born with perfect hearing. I've been a choir member since I was 8 years old. It wasn't until my mid to late 20s when I noticed the change in the way I heard and understood sounds. Aliw Pablo: We've heard from so many of you since our Growing up CODA episodes. Thank you so much for your comments and feedback. We heard a lot from moms and how it resonated with you. Well, today on this bonus episode, we're talking about raising CODA. We’ll introduce you to Hershey, who's in the same shoes as Brother Ronnie and  Brother Rowel’s mom, Raquel. We’ll hear about the challenges of being a mother with hearing loss. We'll get an inside look at the deep struggles of what it's like to raise kids as a deaf mom today. And how meeting the David family and our ASL interpreter Rose Guillermo has completely changed her perspective on her new normal, which is a completely silent world, and sometimes a lonely world. Hershey Cruz: People would call me from across the street. So they would go up to me, “Hey, I was trying to call you but you didn't hear me.” I said, “You were? No, I didn’t hear you at all.” You know, so during that time, people just thought I was always daydreaming. I was… Aliw Pablo:  From INC Media Audio, you're listening to Making Changes. A podcast about changes we go through and the life lessons we learned along the way, but always with God by our side. I'm your host, Aliw Garcia Pablo.  Aliw Pablo: Today's episode is Hershey’s story. She grew up hearing but with no medical explanation. She began to slowly lose her hearing until finally a few years ago, everything went completely silent. Hershey Cruz: What I was telling God in my prayer was how will I get through that situation if I can’t hear your words of advice during the worship service?... Aliw Pablo: She's still able to speak but she can't hear herself speak. Just a note though, today we're talking to Hershey through Rose, our ASL interpreter. And in case you have a hard time understanding Hershey as a podcast, feel free to watch the video version on the INC media app complete with subtitles in sign language. Oh, and in case you haven't seen Growing up Coda parts one and two yet, there may be some spoiler alerts towards the end of this podcast. Heads up. So come meet Hershey. Hershey Cruz: Eventually, I started feeling like something was wrong, but I didn't relate to hearing loss. I thought it was my brain. Aliw Pablo: Then one morning she woke up and she felt like she was wearing permanent earplugs. When she would talk she could barely hear the sound of her voice. Then a specialist confirmed it. Her hearing loss was only getting worse until finally, she could no longer hear her husband Clint's voice or her children's voices. But there was one thing that truly frightened her. Hershey Cruz: I think one of the most painful things to accept about my hearing loss was at that time was not being able to hear the hymns in the worship service. And not being able to understand the minister while he’s p...