Signs of Life : The Brownie Chronicles

Ken and I have enjoyed aspects of each city in which we have lived.  In Oklahoma, we had some of our best friends; in Las Vegas, we enjoyed the mountains, dry climate, and church family; in North Dallas, we met some wonderful homeschooling and neighborhood families.  However, being a Deaf/hearing couple presents challenges when it comes to socializing with the general population.   In most cities, I would get plugged in with a women's bible study group, a homeschooling group, and either AWANA or Scouts.  I might work in the nursery or run the soundboard at church, so I would quickly get to know a lot of people.  In these settings, 99.9% of the friends I made were hearing people who didn't know ASL.   Language certainly presents itself as a barrier.  It was easy for me to visit with other ladies on a deep level, but not so easy to connect our families.  (We love with all our heart a lot of hearing friends who do not sign.  Just making sure...

Last Friday, we loaded up all of our belongings into a big, yellow Penske truck and made the drive south to Austin! We have truly enjoyed our time in North Texas.  Moving to the Regency in Coppell was a great decision.  I must record this story.  TJ would kill me now, but by the time reads all of these, he'll be old enough to appreciate it: The girls rode with their dad in the moving truck.  TJ, the little boys, and I rode in the SUV.  As we were getting settled for the drive, TJ said goodbye to his best friend.  Over the past months, they've come to spend every waking-and-not-in-school moment together.  They've fished together, ridden big roller coasters for the first time, had a couple of sleepovers, visited extended family together, and spent hours and hours riding bikes and talking about Star Wars, movies, cars, and who knows what else.  I had to drop some trash off at the dumpster.  Before I got out, I looked at TJ, who appeared ...