Heroes

Do you ever have one of those moments when a random childhood memory hits you? The other day I was doing nothing in particular and I suddenly wondered, do I still remember all the letters of the alphabet for sign language? I found my mind beginning to run through all of the hand shapes, and I remembered about 20 of the 26 signs. When I was in elementary school I became fascinated by Helen Keller. I checked out her life story from the school library and read it a multitude of times. I think I may have watched the movie about Helen Keller with Patty Duke at about the same time. In the back of that book there was a chart that showed all of the hands symbol for the sign language alphabet. Using this chart, I taught myself these signs. I practiced them over and over again until I could do the entire alphabet by heart. I kept taking the book back and checking it out again until I knew that I had learned them all.

Even now, I don't really understand why I wanted to learn this. I did not know anyone then, and to this day still have not met anyone that required that I know how to sign. Perhaps it was because I was so deeply moved by the ability of this young woman to overcome such great obstacles. Perhaps I was moved by her teacher and their relationship. Like all great heroes Helen Keller inspired me to want to do great things, to not be deterred by the difficulties life brings. Maybe I thought that by learning her language I could be more like her. There was no real reason for me to learn the sign language alphabet and there is no real point to this story. It was a random memory, but like truly great heroes she is still someone I admire, and I can still show you how to make most of the letters of the sign language alphabet.

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness. My life was without past or future. But a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness and my heart leaped to the rapture of living." Helen Keller