Babies when they hear a sound they usually stop what they are doing and listen at the same time they look around for recognition that they have recognized a familiar or new sound.
When Gabriel hears a sound he knows or a new sound he stops- he looks- he listens- he looks around to see who has noticed what he has heard. Registering sounds go on for days and days and days as he finds those sounds within him – finding his voice one sound after another.
Gabriel recognizes sounds such as a motorcycle, a car, his footsteps, the church bell, and he points towards the sound that he hears such as a plane he looks to us to define it, those sounds, we confirm with, “Yes, that’s a motorcycle zroom zroom.” Or, “Yes, Gabriel that’s a bird.” He is pleased with affirmed acknowledgment. That is one way he learns.
Though there are plenty of sounds, an orchestrate of daily sounds such as the waves upon the beach, distant voices, the hum of the refrigerator, the wind, a clocking ticking, the hiss of a kettle, falling leaves, the rustling of clothes when you move, a squeaky door, mist, rain… and sounds that come and go without much fanfare or awareness, sounds that a baby might not be able to define or point to it because they are subtle, distant, or fleeting when a baby hears such a sound he stops and tries to registers it alone, or at times if a person nearby is aware they can define it.
Day by day the sound becomes words, eventually, the baby starts to pronounce those sounds their story takes shape. A child communicates from the day they are born and eventually, they understand that sounds have meaning. Fortunate is a child who has people around to help define those sounds and who affirms their awareness of their world.
For several years now whenever I hear a church bell ring I stop what I am doing and say, "I am in the right place at the right time." As a way to be present to the moment and thankful to whatever it is I am doing. When Gabriel was with us he heard the church bells we would say, "Bells ding dong ding dong."
The evening that they were returning to Paris, Gabriel urgently took hold of my hand leading me to the door to go into our garden. I opened the door and heard the church bells as I was saying to myself, "I am in the right place at the right time." Gabriel pointed upward saying, "Dong." Ah, the continuation of his voice, the beginning of his thoughts shared, memories, collected, the ability to express with his sounds our universal vocabulary/voice. But at that moment I felt a spiritual connection … a reminder to listen, to learn, to fine-tune that which I often take for granted- to listen to what someone is saying, not just by sound or our shared vocabulary but the essences of what they are communicating, the feeling the depth or their thoughts or their heart. Thank you Gabriel for the renewed gift of listening.
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