Let the Silence Be Heard...

Last week Bella's class put on a class talent show. If I may be completely honest and upfront, I am not a huge fan of the talent show idea. They are a bit too much like "Toddlers and Tiaras" for my taste. Perhaps it was because as a child I was stressed out by them. I mean after you have done one or two, you tend to find out that the backhand spring you can do is cool and all, but when put up against the kid in the class that can sing an operatic aria, it just doesn't hold up. Ok, too much about me...

Anyway, it was a bit of a struggle to find a talent for Bella to share with her class. Her "thing" is swimming and that's hard to show outside of a pool. So we came up with the idea to have her bring her ribbons and trophy that she has received from swimming. She was super excited. The talent show went off without a hitch (or an aria, but believe me there were some close contenders) and Bella had a lot of fun.

So here's the funny part and what became an Oprah like "A-ha" moment for me. When I picked up Bella up from the Lifetime play area the teacher said, "She is such a hoot! She was showing us her (implants) and then she started showing us how she can lip read. We were all taking turns standing pretty far away, saying things, and then she would tell what we said. The kids loved it!" When I picked her up she was excited to repeat of version of the story that I had just been told. She went on to further explain that at first the kids were standing pretty close and they thought that was why she could do it, but when they moved far away, she could still do it! She was super proud and it sounds like the kids were amazed. A bit of a "rock star" moment for her amongst the Lifetime play area crowd.

Later, Bella was telling the story again and Harry was listening. His comment? "She should have done the lip reading thing for her talent show." And there it was. In that moment I realized that true talents are a part of who we are. They can't be manufactured and produced for a talent show display. All that searching for something to share, when a true talent is often shared on a daily basis without pomp and circumstance. Although when there is some pomp and circumstance surrounding the talent, that's pretty cool too...