Another lurker leaves the shadows

Hi Vera!  Congratulations on your recent banding and your fantastic weight loss.  You should be excited!  I am looking forward to having my surgery already.   It was in the works for 7 months when I finally got my date and I am raring to go.  Scoot over and make room for me on that bench.  I'll be there before you know it!

I am so glad to see you here at home with all of us OFF family. It is a great place and one that I love. These people are wonderful and always willing to help in any way that they can. Unconditional love is given here, along with caring, sharing, laughter and tears. Please feel free to ask anything and there is someone here that can answer you. If there is the off chance that no one knows one of us will find the answer for you. But then again that does not happen very often.

I found it interesting that you are a interpreter for the deaf. I have 2 deaf aunts and 2 deaf uncles, one aunt and one uncle are now gone. My mom had no hearing in one ear and 7% hearing in her "good" ear. My cousin is an interpreter around here working with a lot of professionals and does a lot for the community for the deaf and hard of hearing. My one cousins wife is a deaf interpreter for the high school. My one cousin is very hard of hearing and wears 2 hearing aids. The doctors have told her that one day she will wake up deaf and the bad thing about that is that she is also losing her sight so she was told that she will wake up one morning and also be blind. I know enough of sign language to converse with Aunt Virginia and Uncle Bob. Deafness is so welcome in my family that I adopted a deaf dog and taught her sign language also. My mom, bless her heart tried to teach her the sign for toilet when she wanted out. I told mom that she is smart but she is still a dog. lol Leave it to my mom to try that one.

I am so glad that you are joining us and please post often so we can get to know each other. Just pull up your seat with a cuppa and join us since we love to chat with each other.

Hi Brenda,  I LOVED your story about your mom trying to teach the dog the sign for toilet!  That cracked me up....signs are one thing, but that is pretty much finger spelling which IS hard to do with no fingers..hehehe!  I get it tho, I have cats (only 2, not a housefull......yet) and I have tried to sign to them too, things like eat and more.  Not sure if they don't get it, or they are just being cats.  That's a whole different attitude from dogs

I enjoyed hearing about your family.  So many people get uncomfortable with Deafness, but once you know someone who is culturally deaf, and you see how comfortable they are living in their own skin, it is hard to have that pity feeling...most , if not all of the Deaf folks I know don't want our pity.  I LOVE the Deaf community.  I have spent a lot of time doing volunteer work at our state commission for the deaf and hard of hearing.  I became very good friends with the deaf program manager there.  Her child is one of the kids I work with.  I love that baby!

My experience with deafness began about 6 yrs ago or so.  I have a deaf cousin who grew up in CA, so I never knew her, tho I knew about her.  She moved to NY and was getting married, invited my mom, sis, and me to the wedding, and we went. She married a deaf man.  Over half the people there were deaf, everyone in the wedding party the same.  The ceremony was interepreted and, I mean come on, the language is so beautiful, but to see a wedding ceremony signed.....I was smitten!!  I decided right then and there I needed to learn the language.  Came back to RI, signed up for classes at the RI School for the Deaf and I was on my way.  I ended up becoming very good friends with one of my teachers (all of them were Deaf) and she recommended I head back to school at the community college in southeastern MA (BCC) to get started.  No schools in RI have a terp program.  After I got thru BCC, I was accepted to the terp prgram at Northeastern Univ, but there was just no way I could go for it at that point in my life.  My son was 10, I was working days, I would have to take the train into Boston at nite, and I would be gone over 20 hrs a week just for ONE class that met 3 nites a week.   I just felt like the time away from home and my son was not a sacrifice I was willing to make at that point in my life....or his....I had already been going to school for close to 3 yrs.

That's when my friend/teacher and I decided to go into business together, teaching sign language to parents who wanted to sign with their hearing babies.  I had business background and she had teaching background..the perfect combo, but after a yr, we realized she had no time to devote to the business, and I couldn't continue to do it all alone.  The business was definitely growing too big for me.  So we closed it...but not before I became known around my little state as someone who could sign with babies...and that is how I began my language facilitating, by subbing for the terps.  I am in no way qualified to terp for an adult, but for babies I am definitely there.

Whew...I sure can ramble on...but as you can see I have enthusiasm when I talk about something I love.  Thanks for sharing your family story with me, and for your warm welcome!!  Looking forward to chatting with you some more.