“The beauty of silence“, by Brenda Costa, Ed.Martins Fontes. Average price: R$30.00.
Brenda Costa is Brazilian. She was born with profound deafness. She is married to Karim Al-Fayed, son of the owner of Harrod’ s and brother of Dodi Al-Fayed, who died in the accident involving Princess Diana. He has also been profoundly deaf since the age of 6, when he contracted meningitis. She had a cochlear implant in 2007. Brenda is a successful model who has starred in campaigns and runway shows for the world’s most important brands.
Some excerpts…
“As for modeling, my deafness will always be a source of problems in this profession I’ve chosen (even today, my manager and friend Filipa, of Portuguese origin, sometimes has to fight to convince a wary client to hire me).”
“The first real limitation linked to my deafness hit me when I turned three. The device. That famous device, similar to a mini-walkman – but less cool – which is supposed to boost my hearing acuity by, say, 5%.”
“My mother, for her part, coped badly with the situation. The hideous little box hanging around my neck not only ruined my look, but also reminded me of what she tried so hard to forget and make me forget: that I wasn’t a normal child.”
“A few months after I got the device, when I started to read lips (thank you, speech therapist), I revisited those scenes with the dialogues. My mother: ‘I can’t stand all these mothers chasing me with their stupid questions’.”
“In fact, it took me twice as long to pick up what the others picked up in a second.”
“Actually, I owe it all to Dr. Valderez’s therapy. Without this wonderful executioner and her often painful sessions, in which I suffered physically to be able to make sounds, syllables, words, sentences and more sentences, today I would live in seclusion, supported by society.”
“What happens to the power of words when these moments eat away at us, overriding joy and hope? I think of this when, during lunch or dinner, it comes to mind that perhaps“it would be simpler, or in any case less tiring, less embarrassing, withoutme”, without that walled-in presence of silence that demands twice as much attention as the other.”
That’s the tip!
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