So many pieces by and about ageing people are depressing meditations on mortality and the meaning of life. Edith Iglauer’s essay “What?” for Geist, a Canadian magazine of ideas and culture, stands out with its light, comic tone. Iglauer and her husband Frank both use hearing aids, and she writes about the trials of wearing–and more often searching for–them. The challenges are sometimes tragicomic (fumbling with tiny batteries) and sometimes just comic (dropping aids in a glass of water). Whatever the situation, Iglauer comes at it with vitality and a sense of humor that’s a welcome change from darker fare.
Image by Photos by Mavis, licensed under Creative Commons.