Osmond son Virl shares memories of his mother

Virl Osmond wrote the book "The Untold Story of Olive Osmond" as a gift to his mother, who died in 2004. He feels he owes her that in return for the priceless gifts she gave him as he and his brother grew up deaf in a famous Mormon family of singers.

"It's because of her that I can communicate," Osmond said. "She left me with the tools to get through life."

Virl is the eldest in the Osmond family and has a 75 percent hearing loss. His brother Tom had an 87 percent loss. When Virl and Tom were babies, a specialist at a deaf school told the Osmonds they should reconcile themselves to putting the boys in an institution.

Olive Osmond wouldn't hear of it.

She began reading whatever material she could find, taught herself sign language and taught her sons to talk. Eventually she established the Children's Miracle Network -- originally set up to help deaf children. Today, the network has raised millions of dollars for children's hospitals in the United States and around the world.