I stopped singing when my husband lost his hearing

Dear Delyara, My husband and I met in a choir. He stood behind me in the bass section and sang too loudly on purpose until I turned around. We married eight months later. Five years ago, an infection damaged his hearing, and music became painful noise before disappearing almost completely. I stopped singing at home because the sight of him watching my mouth without hearing the sound felt cruel. Tonight, while washing dishes, I forgot myself and began singing an old folk song. He came into the kitchen and placed two fingers against my throat. I froze, embarrassed, but he shook his head and asked me to continue. So I sang with his fingers resting against the vibration. He closed his eyes. I could not finish the last verse because I was crying too hard. He signed that he could feel where my voice became sad. We stood there beside the sink, my hands wet, his fingers on my neck, listening in completely different ways. I have spent years treating music as something we lost together. Tonight, I understood that I had been the one keeping it silent.