8:43 a.m. - April 24, 2002
Tend your garden before it rains
An appeal.
Should you ever find yourself relying on a sign language interpreter who happens to be me, please don't tell me I've done a beautiful job and that God Speaks Through Your Hands when you don't know the difference between skill and spastic hand-waving. Please don't tell me that my hands ripple like a silk sheet on a clothesline and that you are amazed by the liquid grace of sign language. Please don't ask me how I can move my hands and listen to what's being said at the same time. Do not gawk with your mouth open. Do not come up to me during the intermission and ask Oh My God How Can You Sign Latin and Are You a Priest simply because I signed a funeral mass. Don't ask how long it took to learn sign language. And please, please don't inquire reverently, Is This Your Mission To The Deaf because that question is enough to make me want to bitch slap you a thousand times over.
Breathe.
Interpreted a funeral last night and it was difficult because it was a mother who had died leaving a father unable to communicate with his Deaf children and the father asked me What Do I Do Now? My Wife Talked To Them For Me and that broke my heart because of the loss both ways.
When the service was over the mother of the deceased approached me and hugged me saying Thank You Thank You Thank You and between her sniffles and sobs said she could see the Grace Of God on my hands and You Must Be Catholic and all I could say in response was to say No, no, I just tried my best and then others came up to shake my hand and hug me as if it was my mother who had died.
The mother was 36 and died suddenly. I am 26. First song to play when I started up the engine was Kansas' Dust in the Wind. Yup. Have to make the most out of the time you're here.
Dare I admit I made a mistake that I hope nobody noticed? Given that there were 50 plus Deaf people at the funeral, chances are slight. But perhaps when I signed Virgin Whore instead of Virgin Mary people were distracted by the shine of my halo and thus I need not worry.
