A Story About U.S. Helicopters Used In Vietnam War And Mario

Hello, my name is Mario.

I am married and have been with my bride for thirty-three years. We have two grown children. We live in a community that is wonderfully and exceptionally diverse. We share our home with three fantastic hounds and we are blessed to have our back yard be attached to a Preserve. We have a medium sized swimming pool, we have a handful of yards and the Four Directions are present and respected here. Prior to being diagnosed and having this Meniere's take both ears and one balance system, I had enjoyed many years of management with Starbucks Coffee Company. Prior to Starbucks, there were other places of employment where I managed and assisted with the creation of some mighty fine teams - in retail, restaurant management, and other position's of Middle Management. I thrived and excelled with these positions and am pleased to say that I actually loved my last two jobs. Yes, I did. Very much.

I am Single Side Deaf with a Cochlear BAHA, a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid and am Hard of Hearing with Moderate Hearing Loss in my right good-bad ear. I have Meniere's Disease. One of the many symptoms of Meniere's are the audio hallucinations. I like to call them noises and sounds. One of my endless dozens of sounds and noises in my ears is the sound of the helicopter. The one I have living within me is the one used during the Vietnam War. This air vessel sound began to strike me with furious impact on my life just a few short years ago. The helicopter usually whomp-whomp-whomp's immediately above the roof of our Lodge and stays, seemingly always, just feet from over my head.

The first time I was struck by such horrendous sounds of these War helicopters I honestly thought we were having Military maneuvers. Either that or my community was on the verge of being invaded by our own troops. The Sounds were and are so vivid and vividly clear. Loud and clear as if something was really going to happen. It took me twice to go out of doors to check, listen and see that there were no damned Vietnam era Helicopter loitering in the air space above me, our hounds and our home. My Sweet Lord.

Now when this particular sound visits - I disregard it as much as I humanly can and no, I don't go and check anymore. I have learned that this shit will not go away - never ever. I am not okay with it, but there isn't a damned thing I can do about it. Yeah, yeah, I take my medicine when the sounds become severe or especially problematic. There are times when I think I can't go any further. But then I remember I know I must keep on keeping on.

Life?