Photo by: Emily Hoyer

…Even though the flashlights cast shadows across our faces, our mutual interest and desire to communicate made our conversation work. Silhouetted by the black of the mountain night, we sat as two hearts cloaked in our own veil of radiance, oblivious to anyone but each other. The flashlight fairies continued their flickering dance, playing hopscotch over the circle of light beams between us, but leaving enough light to allow us to converse in the dark of night.

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Deaf, Health, Hearing Loss, Late-Deaf, Love, Meaning, My Story, Support | No Comments »

There, at the bottom of the hillside, stood my little cousin and the cute guy in the red bandanna from the campsite next to us…

…I looked back and marveled with a heavy sigh, ‘Who is this young prince befriending my little cousin?’ He looked so charming squatting down next to him, cheering him on, encouraging him to catch a really big fish…

To my surprise, my little cousin eventually dragged this young buck back up the hillside through our camp, like a little sprite bringing home a captive treasure. Little did we know then that he was bringing me the man I was to marry!

On our wedding day 6 1/2 years later, my husband carried that same timeworn red bandanna in his pocket to wipe his own tear-filled eyes as he glanced with heartfelt emotion upon his bride to be.

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Deaf, Family, Love, Meaning, Miscellaneous, My Story | No Comments »

Photo by: Lorrie McClanahan

… I just wanted to blend in, to be lost in a crowd and not be singled out. I wanted to feel a part of the normal whole, and not a broken piece. I wanted to belong. And so, I wondered among the throngs of people in the great lobby. My hearing disability was invisible….

…No one knew I could not hear, as I followed the visual rhythm of those around me. I had become a chameleon and discovered the art of blending in…

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Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deaf, Meaning, Miscellaneous, Music, My Story, Spiritual, Support | No Comments »