MARK WAS THRILLED ABOUT SOMETHING & ONLY A MALE WOULD TRULY UNDERSTAND. THEY WERE ALL WORKING. THE 1 HE REACHED, HE HAD 2 CALL AGAIN & AGAIN-I’M GUESSING A BAD PHONE CONNECTION. HE HAD NO1 HE COULD TELL! I LAUGHED SOOO HARD! ‘WELCOME 2 MY WORLD!’ CALL ME MEAN-LAUGHING AT HIS PAIN-BUT I DEAL W/IT DAILY, & WAS ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED HE HAD A MINISCULE TASTE OF MY LIFE-ONLY I’VE BECOME ACCUSTOMED 2 IT! I REMEMBER HOW FRUSTRATED I WAS THE 1^ST TIME, B4 I EVEN KNEW HOW 2 BLINK SPELL!
EVENTUALLY, THE CALL WORKED, & HE SHARED. LIKEWISE, I EVENTUALLY COULD SEND EMAILS & TYPE ON THIS WEBSITE, BUT THE FLEETING FEELING HE HAD, HAD SERVED MONTHS OF MY LIFE. NOW I HAVE A NEW PROBLEM: MANY THOUGHTS I HAVE R NOT SHARED, BECAUSE MY 1 FINGER CAN NOT TYPE FAST ENOUGH.
1 LAST THING:

A story at ABCNEWS.

I HAVE YET 2 READ IT (I NEED LARGE FONT, & COPIED IT, BUT IT HAS YET 2 BE ENLARGED & I READ SLOW, SO I NEED A HUGE CHUNK OF TIME), BUT HEARD ABOUT IT.

FIA HAS BEEN LEARNING & PRACTICES WRITING HER ABC’S ON AN EASEEL IN THE RM. W/ME. WHEN SHE’S UNSURE, SHE ASKS ME, & I DRAW IT ON MY LEG. 2DAY, SHE 4GOT ‘K.’ THAT’S NOT EASY 2 EXPLAIN, SO SHE WAS SMART.

LET ME DETOUR: IN MY CRAFT RM., ON MY BULLETIN BOARD, I HUNG AN ASL STRIP I GOT BACK IN INDIANA FROM MY VISITING TEACHERS (VT-2 CHURCH WOMEN WHO VISIT ME MONTHLY). THAT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE DONE. TWICE A MONTH, I TEACH A DIGITAL SCRAPBOOK CLASS-MOST ATTENDIES ARE LDS (MORMON)–& THOUGH I CAN TYPE 2 COMMUNICATE W/THEM, I FIGURED THAT IF I HAD THAT STRIP UP, IF THEY HAD 2, THEY COULD MATCH MY ASL LETTER 2 THE STRIP 2 FIGURE OUT A LETTER. IT HAS HELPED IF SOME1 IS STUCK ON 1 LETTER’ANYWAY, I NEVER FORESAW THIS, BUT THAT STRIP HAS AIDED MY 2 LITTLE GIRLS IN LEARNING ASL! JESS ASKS ME 2 SPELL, & USES THAT STRIP 2 CONVERT MY ASL 2 A LETTER! FIA HAS SEEN THIS & MIMICS HER-IN FACT, FIA NOW RECOGNIZES MOST ASL LETTERS-SHE JUST CAN’T SPELL! BUT SHE USUALLY RECOGNIZES IF I SPELL ‘SOPHIA.’ JESS CAN DO SHORT WORDS SOMETIMES, BUT PREFERS 2 SIT ON MY LAP WHILE I TYPE & SHE READS (SHE LOVES 2 GUESS A WORD B4 I FINISH TYPING, BUT I STILL HAVE 2 FINISH TYPING IT & CAN’T USE SHORTHAND.)

BACK 2 MY STORY’FIA USED THAT STRIP 2 FIGURE OUT WHAT ‘K’L LOOKED LIKE, BUT STILL WANTED ME 2 VERIFY IF SHE DREW IT RT.! THEN MY FAV. PART: SHE SINGS THE ABC SONG & ASKS ME 2 SING W/HER-I DO, IN ASL. SHE SINGS, POINTS 2 A LETTER, THEN LOOKS AT MY HAND. AT THE END, SHE COMMENTS, ‘THANKS 4 SINGING W/ME!’ I AM A MUSIC MINOR. WHEN I STROKED, I WAS A CHURCH CHORISTER FOR 3-12 YR. OLDS & SANG IN R CHURCH CHOIR. I HAVE ENJOYED MUSIC THERAPY MORE THAN OTHER THERAPIES. SO, IT MEANS THE WORLD 2 ME THAT I’M SINGING 2 HER!

NOW 2 BRAG-I WAS PROUD, BUT HAVEN’T SHARED! YESTERDAY, I WORE A SWEATER. WHEN I SIGNED, IT TENDED 2 COVER MY HAND (LIKE COVERING YOUR MOUTH), SO IT WAS ROLLED BACK. LAST NIGHT, R FAM. SAW A MOVIE. I WAS FREEZING COLD IN THE THEATER-MY SWEATER HELPED IMMINSCILY-BUT I KEPT IT ROLLED UP 2 EAT POPCORN. BUT WHEN I WAS DONE EATING, 4 WARMTH, I WANTED MY HAND UN MY SLEEVE; BUT HOW COULD I QUIETLY GET MARK’S ATTENTION & SIGN IN THE DARK 2 UNROLL MY SLEEVE? I DECIDED I COULDN’T, SO USING MY ARMREST & MY JOYSTICK ON MY CHAIR (WHICH I OFTEN USE 2 TURN THE 2 RINGS ON MY RT. HAND), I DID IT! I WAS IN DISBELIEF!