(Ch. 50 of my storyblog of my journey into Deafhood…)

Photo by: Bill Liao

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.

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ASL - Sign Language, Deaf, Deafhood, Hearing Loss, Late-Deaf, Love, Meaning, Miscellaneous, My Story, Support | 8 Comments »

(Ch. 49 of my storyblog of my journey into Deafhood…)

Photo by: “Chris”

As he was passing through our campsite, this delightful young man in the red bandanna thanked my little cousin for teaching him about the ways of sleeping fish. Then he introduced himself to my aunt. His name was Brent, and he was even cuter up close! I tried to look preoccupied taking pictures because I assumed conversation would be difficult. But soon, my aunt began waving at me to get my attention, and I had to give eye contact.

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Deaf, Deafhood, Family, Health, Hearing Loss, Late-Deaf, Love, Miscellaneous, My Story, Support | 7 Comments »

Photo by: Melissa Wiese

It was the weekend of July 24th, 1982, the summer of my sophomore year in college. Bleary-eyed from endless eye-contact and weary from the ongoing communication struggles to lip-read, I looked forward to a well-deserved summer break. When my aunt extended an invitation, I jumped at the opportunity to join her and my younger cousins on a family camp-out at Fresno Dome. This was not my first trip to Fresno Dome. I had been there many times before with extended family, but this particular weekend would alter my life forever.

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ASL - Sign Language, Deaf, Deafhood, Family, Late-Deaf, Love, Miscellaneous, Music, My Story | 4 Comments »