A BOY NAMED JACK

As the month of March got underway the cold winds were blowing when an elderly lady walked into the coffee shop were I sat.  She was pushing a stroller with a small child in it.  The child's eyes caught my attention.

I later learned the child's name was Jack.  He was wearing a colorful turban-like head cover. The woman pushing him was his grandmother, she told me the child's name was Jack and he was two years old.

Jack  had just had surgery to have a small plate implanted in his skull to help him regain his ability to hear.  Jack was born without the ability to hear.

There are medical terms about the surgery Jack had as there are scientific ones about
the technology which is now a part of Jack.  The small colorful head piece he wore covered a tiny switch which controlled volume on two hearing aids which he wears, not always with enthusiasm.

Later, a friend knowledgeable about the medical procedure told me it may have been the cochlear implant,

What intrigued  me most about Jack was his eagerness to take in all about him and his grandmother's attention to him.  His smile was infectious.

There was little time for all of us to talk but I did learn that Jack and his family were part of a  government medical health research program that now incorporates technology.

With all the misinformation, with all the flaws we may or may not have about existing government health programs, for me Jack represented a good reason to look to dedicated public servants and research to help show us the way to the future.