July 4, 2007, came 20 days after Lily was born. We sat on the porch that night and watched the fireworks. Each loud boom did nothing to stir Lily. We already knew she had failed her newborn screening and watched anxiously for any sign that she could hear what everyone for miles around could hear that night. No such luck. We cried. We worried. But most of all we wondered what life would be like for her, for us, for those around her.
July 4, 2008, came 66 days after her right ear was activated (and 44 days after her left ear). We sat on the porch and watched the fireworks and heard the booms. Lily did too. We cried. We laughed. We rejoiced in the power of her new ears and her ability to begin to distinguish sounds.
July 4, 2009, 750 days after Lily was born we sit and watch the fireworks and hear the booms. Lily hears them too and asks for "More, more, more!" She tells us the colors of each one - "Green, Yellow, Red, Blue." We cry. We laugh. We celebrate the sounds of the season.
We still worry about every little bit of Lily's life, but we're happy and excited in the moment and confident that there will be many more celebrations in the future. Happy 4th everyone!
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