Taking Center Stage: A Mother and Son's Journey

On this month’s myFace, myStory podcast, host Dina Zuckerberg is joined by Leah Riman, who will share her journey from when her son, Logan, was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, blindness and other challenges to the music prodigy he is today. At the age of 2, Logan started playing the piano and he has played on some of the greatest stages including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall. Logan is her greatest joy and Leah is his greatest champion.

 

- [Announcer] Welcome to "myFace, myStory," voices from the craniofacial community, with your host, Dina Zuckerberg.

- That was Logan on the piano. Today we'll be talking to Leah Riman, Logan's mom, about her journey and Logan's passion for music. Hello, and welcome to "myFace, myStory," voices from the craniofacial community. Whether you're watching on YouTube or listening on Apple Podcasts, click subscribe now, so you'll never miss a future episode. And if you're a fan of "myFace, myStory," rate and review the program on Apple Podcast so that we can get a message of inclusivity and empowerment to more people. I'm your host, Dina Zuckerberg, the Director of Family Programs at myFace. I was born with a cleft lip, a hearing loss, and no vision in my left eye. "myFace, myStory," is about people like us being seen and heard. About sharing stories within the craniofacial community, and with others. Today, I will be joined by Leah Riman, and we will hear from her son, Logan, on the piano. At the age of 19, Logan is a musical prodigy and has been playing the piano since the age of two. Born with a bilateral cleft lip and palette, microphthalmia, a rare eye condition where a person is born without eyes, resulting in blindness and other challenges. Logan's whole world revolves around music, and he plays everything from classical, to show tunes, to today's greatest hits. Besides piano, Logan also plays the drum, plays guitar, and tap dances. Logan has performed on some of the greatest stages in the world, and as he says, "he's just getting started." He is inspired by the powerful words of Helen Keller, "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." And also the words of Hans Christian Anderson, "Where words fail, music speaks." Recently graduating high school, he is currently trying to find a placement in a musical conservatory or program on a college level where he can continue to study what he loves, music. Leah Riman is a property manager in a the New York City area, who holds a master's degree in audiology, and whose dream it was to earn her PhD in cochlear implantation, when life took her in a very different direction. Her greatest achievement in life is her son, Logan. And she's proudly watching him accomplish what she was told he would never be able to accomplish. She is his greatest cheerleader, advocate, and supporter. Welcome, Leah, I really look forward to our conversation.

- Hi Dina, thank you so much for having us.

- Yes. So take us back to the day Logan was born.

- So Logan is my Thanksgiving baby, and yeah, he was born via C-section. So 10:40 AM you know, first-time mom, nervous, excited, and you know, you wait for that cry that you're supposed to hear and then, you know, everything is kind of okay. And my heart's beating and I hear the cry and I'm like, okay. And then I hear the doctor say, "oh, we have a cleft lip, it's only cosmetic." And I'm like, "oh, oh, cleft lip, okay." Well, I went to school, so I know it's not only cosmetic, but okay, that's the least of my, you know, anything. He's here, he's okay, he's okay. Cleft lip, we'll figure it out. And then everybody's hush, hush, quiet, quiet, you know, and there's that big curtain in front of you. So I don't know what's going on. And then nobody's really saying anything to me. And then I'm like, "well, can I see him? Can I see him? Can I see him?" And they finally like, shown him to me and put him by my shoulder. And I'm like, "oh, why are his eyes closed?" And nobody's saying anything. I'm like, "why are his eyes closed?" And they quickly, like, literally, took him away and they're like, "oh, it's normal. Sometimes babies are born and their eyes are closed for 24 to 48 hours." And that was it. And as I'm still being worked on and sewn up and all that, my blood pressure starts to rise crazy. And I start having very bad reaction, you know, 'cause I'm stressing. And they like, knocked me back out, you know what I mean? They put me out 'cause I started reacting not very well. Yeah, that's not quite how I expected it to go, but yeah.

- So what was your reaction and what went through your mind when you then heard, so you said you heard that he was born with a cleft lip and palette, but when you found out that he had no eyes?

- I didn't find out about the no eyes for probably a couple of days because he was taken to a different hospital. He was mov