International Week of the Deaf
Did you know that September 18 - 24 is the International Week of the Deaf? What, if any, has been your experience with the deaf community?
When I was in college I read a letter written to the student body that stopped me in my tracks. It was written by one of my fellow students. She told the story of her attempt to order food at one of the restaurants on campus. The employee asked her what she wanted to order. and when she didn't reply right away, she asked again. While the student was getting a piece of paper and pencil to write her order, the employee passed her over and asked the next person for her order. She wrote the letter to the editor to increase awareness, you see she was deaf so she couldn't answer the employee without either signing or writing down her order. Later that month, I had the chance to meet her. Stacy was a sweet person, and we bonded over our love of basketball. Since I didn't know ASL, we communicated by writing notes to each other. Inspired by our short friendship, (I graduated later that year and we lost touch), I took a year of American Sign Language and was disappointed that I never got to share it with her.
If you have been following me for a while, you may know that I love discovering "new" ways to pray. Seeing the International Week of the Deaf come up in the calendar reminded me of Stacy and I've been thinking about praying (signing) the Rosary. I think ideally, I should have joined a deaf community so I could practice; the best way to learn a new language IS through immersion. After taking ASL for a year, I never used it and unfortunately, I have since forgotten it. Thankfully, there are many who are fluent. Below, I've included a few videos of some of the prayers of the Rosary.
Thanks to Allison Gingras @reconciledtoyou for the video suggestions. Allison has a beautiful new book coming out at the end of September about faith, sacramentals and the adoption story of her deaf daughter Faithy. It's a wonderful read, I encourage you to get Encountering Signs of Faith: My Unexpected Journey with Sacramentals, the Saints, and the Abundant Grace of God, you will love it!
Stacy, if you see this, thank you so much for taking the time to bring awareness of the deaf community. You are an inspiration! #whyIsign
The Our Father:
The Hail Mary: