When I was younger, I knew my family was different, but the love that surrounded me was never any less than anyone else's household. The deaf community was all I knew growing up, that's how I made friends and how I fit in most of the time.
It was pretty easy for me to pick up sign language and sometimes I like to say that it was my first language, considering the fact it was the first thing I could "speak" before I learned English. My friends who I met outside of the deaf community all thought it was super cool that my parents spoke with their hands and they would stare whenever I had conversations with my parents.
My childhood experience was a lot different than it would be in a hearing home, there were things my parents didn't quite understand about society and I was left out of many things because of it. School was a lot more difficult for me because I had no help understanding difficult tasks for my parents had a harder time communicating or explaining things in order for me to comprehend it.
Sometimes it felt as if I was growing up a little too fast with having to translate and understand certain things to be able to help my parents understand them. The frustrations of having to deal with all this had me wondering all my life why God chose me to be apart of this family. Why was I born in this silent home?
Around a year ago, God revealed to me the many treasures of being a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult). Of course, as I have matured over the years, the struggles I faced get less and less dramatic for me. My parents have seen eye to eye with me through my teenage years and really helped me grow as a person. I am also very grateful that this has given me a life beyond my years.
It has helped me grow so much in maturity at such a young age that I have this talent with words that allows me to write thought-out articles and blogs for people to hopefully be inspired with. Being in a silent home taught me how to cherish and appreciate what He has given me. There are kids all over the world without a mom or a dad, living homeless, or orphaned but God turned my frustration into a blessing.
Having deaf parents brought me into this whole new world and culture seeing sign language spoken internationally in all different ways. It gave me a motivated heart to reach out to the deaf community in France and seek to learn Langue Signe De Français, which is a form of sign language used in France.
Now, let me get this one thing straight. Deafness is not genetic, I can hear because I was born that way and my parents can't because they were born that way. Both my parents can read and drive -- maybe even better because there are no distractions to them.
To conclude, I am happy to live in both worlds. I imagine it as being able to communicate, laugh, love and experience joy with my hands. This is how I feel about family and our language that expresses us in many unique ways.
