Thanksgiving Traditions

Every family has their own traditions, those rituals that you look forward to every year no matter how simple or dorky they may seem to outsiders... or at least I really hope that you do. My family has a longstanding tradition that even if only carried out in our hearts and minds on Turkey Day will be a part of each of my cousins', siblings' and aunts and uncles' fondest memories... guaranteed. We are not extravagant people, we don't do fancy, dressed up or color-themed... Where accommodations meant floor space, table decor meant butcher paper and some good markers, excitement meant the chicken coop before anyone else and entertainment was the latest lesson on the out of tune piano that accompanied wrestling matches... These are some of the fondest memories of my childhood... an overcrowded house full of loud people just happy to be together and rows of dirty shoes lined up on the deck outside. This may sound redneck to the majority but I wouldn't trade it for the finest table setting or gourmet food... This WAS my family. The scenery has changed in recent years... The farm is gone, the house is nicer, but for the first time in quite awhile, I am headed back to that "place" in my memory to revisit that coveted tradition. A few reminders as we go into the holiday season.
Enjoy your family, no matter how loud, backwards or stubborn
Enjoy the company, no matter how crowded (or how often you are allowed to flush the toilet)
Enjoy the food, even if it was beheaded in the backyard the night before
Enjoy the entertainment... regardless of what Monte Python movie has been chosen
Enjoy the tradition, even if (or especially if) it is cards and beer...
It is that "place" in your heart that counts... those fond memories of family and what it means to simply be together..
Happy Thanksgiving

What makes us normal?

normal...
What we all want for our children, our families, our own lives. What does that mean to you? What is your criteria? How far would you go to achieve it for yourself or your loved ones?
What are your feelings about Deafness?
I know not many of you have experience with Deafness, its children, culture or language... but lack of experience does not have to mean closed-mindedness. It does not mean disability, it does not need "fixing". We need to meet our Deaf children where they are, with the language that they deserve, with the knowledge that, just like any other child, they have the RIGHT to access. It is time to stop putting these children to the side because they are not the majority. All children deserve for us as parents, family, teachers and a society to step up and truly KNOW what they need... not to be afraid of what they are and to try to change them to what makes us more comfortable.
ASL is a language... Deafness is a culture... these children are being lost when their brains and hearts are there waiting for us to be ready to teach them.
It is time for us to find what works for THEM, not us.

"How does it affect children to find that they cannot express themselves in their own language because the grown-ups in their surroundings either do not understand it, or insist that they express themselves in another way?"
Bergman 1978