CAT and DOG

  Thanks to a friend at our church, we were recently introduced to a deaf woman with a hearing son close to E in age. We met her and her adorable son for the first time last night. We were honestly a bit nervous since our ASL skills are still very poor and there would be no translator present. She reads lips and speaks, but we were still a bit concerned because we didn't want the responsibility of the conversation to fall entirely on her due to our lack of ASL knowledge.

  We should have never worried! As hearing people, we often take for granted just how much of our communication is non-verbal. Gestures and facial expressions really convey a great deal of what we wish to say. What little sign knowledge I have came easily and for the most part, we carried on a conversation comfortably and at a steady pace. We were telling her how we have been practicing our finger spelling by spelling any road signs we see. I know people in the cars around us wonder what the heck we are doing when they look over and see us finger spelling in unison. Jokingly, she began to sign the alphabet with both hands at the same time. My husband was thrilled. You could see the wheels turning in his head as he silently issued himself a new challenge. She then took it up a notch...spelling "dog" on one hand while simultaneously spelling "cat" on the other. This is like asking someone to pat their head and rub their belly while doing a head stand! Well, we just died laughing as both of us tried this. Of course we failed miserably :-) You can be certain though that my husband will continue to practice this until he has mastered the skill (even if "cat" and "dog" are the only words he can do lol).

  We are very happy to have met a new friend and thrilled for E to have a new pal as well. The hearing connection created an amazing situation. In only about an hour, we established a bond with our new friend that I have rarely ever experienced. It became very clear to us that learning ASL would be an easy and natural thing if we continue to learn as we go with fluent friends. We felt like children as we drove home chattering excitedly. I don't know where this journey is going to take us, but I feel confident in knowing that we will be surrounded by loving friends as we go.