It was probably sometime around 30 years ago, I would have have been around 8 years old. My extended family was and is all across the Midwest, so we don’t get to spend much time together. My Aunt, Uncle, and 3 cousin’s were in town. One of my cousins, who is close in age to me, has a hearing impairment. With her hearing aids and ability to read lips I really never focused on it.
One day we all went to lunch together and I started noticing more how she was communicating across the table with her Mom, she was using sign language. Being the inquisitive person I was I started asking questions and wanting to learn more. It became the focus of the table amongst us kids. Some how or another the sign for I Love You became the one in which we all latched on. We used it as we parted ways as the families loaded up into separate vehicles and again when pulled up next to each other at the traffic light down the way.
It was a sign we used for the next 30 years. Anytime mom was in the audience of anything we were doing she would waive it to us. We would use it with her across the room in a noisy environment. It just became almost automatic in the right moments. When Mom was in hospital isolation restrictions were strictly in place. We all wanted to see her so bad. After weeks, we finally got the opportunity to see her, but it was through glass. In that moment I was struggling to think how I could scream loud enough for her to hear me or pound so hard on the glass she would feel the vibrations I remembered that sign. I made that sign and she signed it back. My mind transformed that sign and I could hear her say it in her voice. I Love You
