premise: Within the year or so before I lost all of my hearing , even that was n't a guarantee ... there were many times I could feel the vibrations but heard nothing . It was a real triumph when I was able to put my head near Beanie and hear her purring a few weeks ago ! She 's one of those cats that purrs with gusto , and now I can easily hear her purring even if I ' m just near her in the room . Thanks to my cochlear implants , I no longer have to rest my ear against her chest . Why was it a triumph to hear Beanie purring ?
hypothesis: Because the writer was losing their hearing .