Photo by: Deaf RED Bear

While at the CAD Hawaiian Luau last month, I happened to capture a conversation between 3 Deaf seniors about the origin of the “I Love you” sign. Have a look below. (Transcript included.)

Transcript:

Bernice: The “I Love You” sign? I can’t remember when it started, but I do remember seeing the ILY sign back in the 1950’s.

Judy: Yes, right, right. It was back in the 1930’s.

John: I remember seeing a movie about a boy and girl who were sweethearts. They married in 1937. I think they invented that ILY sign sometime around or before the 1930’s.

Judy: Yes, MaryRose died, they both died, and yes, they both made up that sign.

Bernice: What town was that?

Judy: The man was from Oklahoma. He was a teacher there. MaryRose was a teacher in Kansas. They went to Gallaudet together and the two of them were good friends. Often, they wanted to tell each other how much they cherished and cared for one another. But they didn’t quite know how. One of them developed the ILY sign, looked it over and decided it would be ok to use. From then on, they decided to use it only for people who they loved and cherished. They began using the ILY sign then.

But now days, the ILY has become so commercialized and Americanized. It’s been ruined in a way and is very overexposed. Now days, it’s just not the same as before.

Bernice: I still use the ILY sign. I often flash the ILY around. (Chuckling)

Judy: Yes, but back then, it was such a special sign. Just like spoons, when crossed and pointed towards a person and back to the other person, it had deep meaning. It meant someone really, deeply loved you. That was back in time. But it’s just not the same today.

Bernice: I remember that postage stamp. It was turned around backward. Putting that stamp on backwards was another way to say I love you. Remember that?

Judy: Yes, the stamp. Yes, yes. Interesting.

Bernice: I remember that.

John: (Waving ILY)

Judy & Bernice: (Joining with the ILY wave)

For more information and opinions on who invented the “I Love You” sign, see this post by Fookem and Bug.

ASL - Sign Language, Deaf, Gallaudet, Love, Miscellaneous, Video Clips | 9 Comments »

Part 2 of 3 videos of the recent California Association of the Deaf, Bay Area Chapter fundraiser - 7/26/08.

Transcript:

Tanja: Yes, around 100 people here.

Tom: Yes, we’ve been enjoying the food, and as you have seen, it’s a real pig! True! …. And, guess what? The pig is Deaf. Heh heh…I’m just teasing you.

Tanja: There’s a variety of food here. Chicken shish-ka-bobs, potato salad, a variety of Hawaiian fruits, and the punch is everyone’s favorite!

Janet: Ooops!

Ella: Do you know her?

Nancy: No.

Ella: Do you know here yet? No? This is Nancy Caroll, VP of CAD.

Nancy: Hello.

Ella: This is LaRonda Zupp. She’s a vlogger.

Nancy: Oh, I see.

Ella: Her vlog is called The Ear of My Heart. It’s so sweet and touching. Very spiritual and soulful.

Nancy: Oh, I see. I see. Thumbs up.

Ella: Me? I’ve been with CAD about 5 or 6 years, I guess. Really, I had been involved in the past, but become more actively involved since 2005. I’m currently on the CAD board right now. The board and membership has become larger, which meant there are more new programs, like the ones now, such as the Educational Committee. DBC is one program under the Educational Committee. My role is the liason between DBC and the Educational Committee. That’s how CAD is involved with DBC. Hoorah! CAD continues to lead the way, as always!

Judy: I came here today to help eat the pig, you know what I mean? They have brought a pig for you, but if there are people who don’t want to eat it, then there will be left overs gone to waste. I can’t let that happen. I don’t support that. I’ve enjoyed being a CAD member. Currently, I am the Co-Chairperson for the Fresno Conference and I’m thrilled to work with Indi.

Ella: Tell them to come to the Fresno conference next year.

Judy: Yes, you must go to the Fresno conference next year. It will be a big event. You can’t miss it.

Nancy: She’s right. We’re are thrilled to work with Indi. You need to come. That’s where I live. The place of the event is called “Old Town Clovis.” It’s charming. Lots of things around that area. It will be fun!

Ralph: Hello. We’re having a fun time around here tonight. many folks have gathered here, including LaRonda Zupp who is here filming us tonight. We’ve been enjoying a roasted pig for dinner. Did you film the pig behind me? Nice. We’ve not only had the pig, but chicken and other food too. I hope the food has made your belly full. We had 125 chicken shish-ka-bobs and they are all gone! That means 125 people came here tonight to this event. That’s quite successful. We will have some performances and a panel discussion soon. We’ll finish eating and then we’ll clean up and watch the show tonight. I’m glad you have come to enjoy, eat and watch!

Woman: I’ve come here to support CAD, Bay Area chapter because I believe in what they do, their purpose, and to see my friends.

Nick: Yeah, hello! My name is Nick. I’m here for the Bay Area CAD because I want to get involved now. Lately, for the past 16 years, I’ve been working for a computer company and really, I’ve not had any involvement with CAD, that is, until I moved here to Fremont. I decided to do something for the community. I heard about the CAD in the Bay Area and decided to join. And hopefully, the membership will continue to grow. Come and join us! We Need You!

Girl: Really, I’m here because my mom is a member. I thought I’d come out to show support and give this group a look and now I support it.

Kat: I’m Kat, from New York. I moved here and have been a CAD member for a number of years. I can’t remember how long. Maybe since new years, please forgive us.

Charles: I think we moved here and then we joined for a while, but then that faded until about 2 years ago when CAD started to get more energized as a group. When it became very active, we became more motivated to offer support. That’s when we joined, about 2 years ago. It’s been going strong. I always offer my support to the Deaf organizations. I totally support them. Right on!

Claire: Hi. I’m Claire. I’m here because her husband, whoever you are, Jason, who is the Vice President of CAD, am I right? He paged me one morning and said, “Hey, I need a Vice President for the day. Can you take care of it?” I said, “Ok.” I looked at my pager and thought, “What is this about?” That was my first time supporting CAD. Can you imagine? I’ve lived here all my life. Now I’m here to offer support and help.

Olaf & Unchon: “You go first.” You, no you, no you…..”

Olaf: Ladies always first.

Unchon: Please. Ok. I’ll go first. I’m here this evening from 4pm - 9pm, here at the Deaf school. The volunteers can be both men and women. It doesn’t matter. We are here to help serve and we are enjoying this wonderful event. We are thankful for this food, which is good. There is chicken and pig (makes Korean sign for pig) that has been roasted on a spit. A lot of people have gathered here to socialize and we are really enjoying them all. Thank you. Bye and Hi.

Olaf: I volunteered here for this Hawaiian Luau because my parents used to be involved with CAD for many, many years. Because of them, I am not only familiar with the organization, but I know CAD members very well. I know who Buddy Singleton is, through my parents, and I know the older folks here very well. I’ve enjoyed offering my help here. Thank you.

Performer: Then I came to America…. And we have this long line of fish stories…. wait, I want Ralph to see this…

Judy: I have another fish story. Men are not the only ones with fish stories. Women have them too. We have them… have you ever heard of Purse Fish? Have you heard of them? This story is really something! In M…. Missouri, I decided to take my young children fishing. I got them all together and we got to a place, though we had to pay to get in. We were fishing for Trout. Yes, trout.

We were spending our time fishing, but we were not having much luck. The sun was out and it was a hot, dry day. So, my children and I made out way to a nearby bridge and crossed over it to look for fish on the far side. As we looked around, we could see fish of different sizes in the water below. Some were huge, some we smaller. We looked around and waited for the right opportunity to catch the fish. We really wanted to catch some fish. “But how,” I thought to myself, “just how will we catch these fish? They’ll cost us 3 or 4 dollars a pound. How can we do this?”

Well, I was about ready to give up and gathered my children together to get them home. We all walked across the bridge, and when we got to the middle, I stopped to get one of my kids a kleenex from my purse to blow his nose, but one of my children accidently bumped me. Suddenly my purse went tumbling over the side of the bridge and into the water below! It was gliding down the river and I shreaked! “Ahhhh!”

I went tearing off after it, doing my best to keep up with it as it flowed down the river. I finally caught up to it, broke a branch off a nearby bush and caught the handle to pull it in! As I picked it up, I felt my purse jiggle. When I opened it up all the way, there inside was a fish about that big… there in my purse! That was really farout!

That fish was free! I didn’t have to weigh it or pay for it. Now I know you don’t have to use a pole to catch a fish. You can simply use a purse. Really, share that information with all the women you know. That’s how you can catch a fish easily.

ASL - Sign Language, ASL Stories, Deaf, Hearing Loss, Late-Deaf, Miscellaneous, Support, Video Clips | 1 Comment »