Here’s something that will definitely brighten your day. Edward and Julia Machado have a 7-year-old daughter, Laura, who was born without the ability to hear, and when she recently started digging a 200-foot pit in their backyard, they did something absolutely incredible: They just assumed it was a deaf thing.
Beautiful!
Some may have looked for a different explanation, but not Edward and Julia. Having a deaf daughter has taught them to be more understanding and accepting of the differences of others, and from the first time Laura went out into the backyard to dig her pit, the Machados just attributed what she’s doing to her deafness. They even gave her a shovel so she wouldn’t have to dig with her hands and a headlamp for when it gets dark!
“Laura is just like all the other kids, but because she can’t hear, she experiences life a little differently,” said Edward. “Her digging a large pit in our backyard is just part of that.”
As of now, the hole is about 200 feet deep and 5 feet wide in diameter, and since Laura shows no signs of stopping, it’s only going to get deeper. In recent days, she’s even appeared to dig with more urgency, something the Machados say is also probably some sort of deaf thing.
“She has yet to sign any other reason for digging the pit, so why would we assume that it‘s anything but a deaf thing?” Julia said. “It can be frustrating sometimes when neighbors ask us why she’s doing this, but then again, not everyone has someone deaf in their lives.”
What a touching story—and it goes without saying that we could all learn a lesson in tolerance from Edward and Julia Machado.
Faith in humanity restored!
