Hearing without ears

This morning when I was walking my dog, I met a man,Tony who was walking his dog. This man was deaf (from birth), from Italy and had a thick accent and was 89 years old and yet I understood every word he spoke without any strain at all. Why? Because this man had passion and joy when he spoke. And, despite being deaf, he heard every word that I said without strain. Why? Because he cared to, because he was listening, which we do not need working ears to do. Tony was just another reminder to me that my limits really only exist in my mind. We do not need to have ever heard words to be able to hear them or to be able to communicate them clearly. We need only to have the desire to communicate clearly and to "hear" what the other person is saying.