Brent and I moved back over toward the campfire to try to take advantage of its light. The flashlight batteries had just about died out, and I could no longer use the flashlights to lip-read. Brent stoked the embers causing a few flames to take hold of what was left of the last burnt log. Though the deep, orange embers cast a romantic glow across our faces, lip-reading in the dark was almost impossible for me. There were times when I was unable to follow what Brent said. I could not fake my way through conversation now that Brent knew my secret, nor did I want to.
I noticed that as the light began to fade, I began to talk more while Brent talked less. As long as I was doing the talking, I wouldn’t have to hear. But this was no fun. The exchange was ending because of the lack of light, not because of the lack of mutual interest. At one point, as I struggled to lip-read something Brent was saying, he suddenly got an idea and began to fingerspell.
“You know how to fingerspell?!” I asked in shock. I was surprised and delighted!
“I almost forgot! I learned the sign language alphabet from being in our high school play, The Miracle Worker,” he explained. “I don’t know any sign language vocabulary yet, but now I have a good reason to learn it!” he said seductively.
For the next 30 minutes or so, Brent bravely continued to use fingerspelling when I couldn’t understand him. His total acceptance of my hearing loss and complete commitment to making communication work, whatever it would take, snagged my heart — hook, line and sinker! I knew then that this was someone I didn’t want to let slip away!
Eventually, our families called us back to our tents. It was late and they needed us to regroup. Reluctantly, we parted with the promise of meeting again the next day.
I was hardly able to sleep that night. I lay staring through the net screen in our tent, looking up past the giant conifers at the stars above. I literally felt like I was floating! I was smitten and overwhelmed with excitement and hope! I felt love and acceptance once again! My heart was full!
We have occasionally returned to Fresno Dome campground over the years to remember our first meeting, and to bring our son to the place where his Mama and Papa first met and fell in love. We smile when we find ourselves talking into the flashlights at night as if they were microphones, so I can lip-read in the dark while we teach our son to find the constellations in the starry mountain skies above. It reminds us of that warm, summer night 25 years ago when our fates were written in the stars. I couldn’t ask for a better person to share my life-journey. We’ve been lucky in love.
