Last night we had a "Mom's Night In" with our signing with children group. The "Mom's Night In" was something we started 7 years ago as a way to hang out, enjoy a meal together, play games, continue to grow in friendship and continue to grow in our signing skills.
We are a very lucky group of ladies that sprouted from the brainchild of one Deaf mom and one Hearing mom. It continued to grow into a group that had both Deaf moms and Hearing moms of roughly 40 women. Being a mom is not a prerequisite; family and friends of this group were also invited. Over the years we got together monthly, had several field trips and playdates throughout the month, crafts days and nights, birthday parties, funerals. We had offshoots including a pre-K co-op that met every monday for a couple of years at our house. Our kids grew up learning English and ASL (various accepted forms including pidgin sign which is influenced by English due to the fact that the first language of many included English. I think of it the way my mom learned English as a native Spanish speaker. She uses English words -- but her word order is influenced by her first language, Spanish. The focus has always been communication).
Incidentally one of the things we talked about last night was Switched at Birth -- and how it's been a year since a field trip we had to Downtown Disney to meet the cast. Switched at Birth is a successful ABC family show which has an ASL-English bilingual family. For more on this show visit the ABC link below. Also listed is Netflix in which you can catch up with Instant play episodes:
- ABC: http://beta.abcfamily.go.com/shows/switched-at-birth/video
- Netflix: https://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Switched_at_Birth/70189301?locale=en-US
In any case, we embrace both languages, both cultures -- and all levels of learning of both languages and cultures. Some women were teachers and interpreters; some were beginning sign language learners teaching their babies. This is a place of acceptance -- kind of like the old series Cheers and their motto of "...where everybody knows your name...". It has been a wonderful journey for all of us. As the years have passed and as our children have gotten older, we've seen friends move into the area and friends move away -- but thanks to the Internet and social networks such as Facebook, we all remain in contact with each other. Once a part of the group always a part of the group. Talking to someone we haven't talked to in a long time always feels like we just talked to them yesterday. That's what it always feels like with friends and family. This group is an extension of family and I've been blessed with their lives.
In a post from the days after surgery I mentioned that as a Hearing person I was so fortunate to know sign when I was in the hospital. Coming out of that surgery I could not talk or talk comfortably through various stages. Directly coming out I was throwing up, in pain from all areas of my body including my throat which had a tube throughout surgery, and I was drugged. I could not coordinate the air from my lungs with my mouth. I could not coordinate my mouth with my mind. But, I could sign with my husband as my interpreter and this made a huge impact on my comfort level in that post surgery experience. Without sign I would have gone through unnecessary pain. I thank the women in this group for giving me an important community foundation for signing which will always be a part of my life.
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| post mastectomy picture |
Some memories of previous years.....
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