Chapter 3 #2
Derek had met a lot of Suzanne’s friends, and he didn’t like a great many of them.
Not that there was anything wrong with them.
Most of them were deaf as well, and some of them were snooty and sort of exclusive about it.
Suzanne had told him that at one point she was considering a cochlear implant, and apparently it caused a great deal of discussion and debate among her friends.
When she asked, he told her that he thought it was a decision she needed to make, and that he would support her no matter what she decided.
Eventually she decided against it, largely because she was too old for one.
For children, they worked well, because the neural pathways for language were being formed.
At her age they were set, and an implant apparently wasn’t going to be as effective.
“Why don’t they like him?”
“Because he can hear,” Suzanne sent. “Marshall is really nice. He has a daughter who is two. He shares custody of her with his ex-wife, and she’s as cute as they come.
He’s considerate of my deafness and has never pressured me on the whole implant business.
And he’s signed up for ASL classes. His first one was last week.
” She followed the message with smiley faces. Lots of them.
“Then I need to meet this man. You sound really happy.” He loved that she had met someone. Suzanne had dated a number of times, always guys who were deaf like her, but those relationships never lasted very long. Maybe Marshall was the man she needed.
“I am. So what’s up with you?”
Derek told her about Harm, which took quite a few texts, and then asked her advice.
“I think I want to try to help him, but I don’t know if I should offer or if he even wants the help.
He does know some ASL. I don’t want to offend the guy, but I really think I could help him learn to communicate and be less cut off. ”
“Where are the nearest classes?” Suzanne asked.
“I checked. HACC offers a community outreach class, but the nearest real location is in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. So I was thinking that maybe I could offer a class of sorts here at the library. I was thinking that instead of being a formal class, it could start off with learning and maybe progress into a group safe space where the members can help each other.” He sent the message hoping he wasn’t totally out of line.
“I think it’s wonderful. And since it’s a community service sort of thing, you don’t need to be certified. Would you charge to take part?”
“No. I think it’s something the library can do to fill a need.
Maybe we could even let other libraries in the area know what we’re doing so they could help support the program.
I remember when I took my first ASL lessons, they were in a church.
You were probably a few years old, and I was six.
We went there for quite a while until the program stopped.
But by then, we were fairly proficient.”
“Yes. And I know you took more classes in college.”
“I did. I wanted to be able to keep up with my little sister.” He sent her smiley faces. Derek was very proud of her. She’d done well by any measure. “So, do you really like the idea?”
“I do. It will help people and could fill a need in your area. I can talk to a few people to see what materials are available to help you get started.”
“You’re the best.” He was smiling as he sent the message. He hadn’t asked for her help, but he appreciated anything she could do. “I’ll let you know how things go.”
“Do that. If you need me to help convince people how important this is, I’m willing to do that.” As always, Suzanne was there to support him. “You have a good day. I have a patient in fifteen minutes, and I have a date with Marshall this evening. I’m really excited about it.”
“I’m glad you’re happy, And you tell him for me that if he hurts you I will come all the way there and hunt him down.
” He sent a scowling face before saying goodbye.
She sent a rolling eyes emoji, and Derek chuckled to himself.
At least his idea might have some merit.
Now he needed to start the paperwork required to begin a new program.
There weren’t any direct costs associated with his proposal, which was good.
The biggest things he needed to do were to put together the parameters of the program and then figure out how to reach the people who might be interested.
The library had plenty of meeting space.
The question was how he was going to reach the people who could really use something like this.
But all that could wait until tomorrow. Scarlett O’Hara had nothing on him.
“YOU REALLY think we should do something like this?” Connie asked the following morning when he shared with her the initial writeup of his idea.
“Why not? You know the guy you were so afraid of—he can’t speak. I don’t know how it happened, but he was the one who gave me this idea. There isn’t anything like this in the area. So why not? We don’t lose anything if there isn’t interest.”
She rolled her eyes.
“What?”
“I know you’re hoping for the director job, and we’re all hoping you get it. But if you start a program like this and it’s a bust, the board will know it, and you can kiss any chance you have at that promotion goodbye. The opportunity will be gone faster than a fart in the wind.”
“Great….” Derek still thought it was a good idea and could be filling a real need in the community.
“Well, so what. I have experience with this sort of thing. I’ve been using ASL since I was six.
And my sister messaged me that she can get us materials free of charge as long as we give credit to their developer.
Apparently she’s a grad student, and us using her materials and providing feedback will help her with her thesis.
” He thought he had everything they’d need. “Now, how do we reach people?”
“Get the sessions scheduled and we can add them to the library website. Claire can get posters designed and printed for the windows. We can also email graphics to the other libraries in the county. All are welcome. But your challenge is to get Harm to come.”
Derek nodded. “I know. He’s the inspiration for this whole thing, and I hope he’ll see a benefit in it.
Maybe he won’t, but I really hope so.” The thing was that Derek wanted to help everyone who came in the library, and he felt it should be more than books and videos.
It should be part of the community and provide education and services that filled a real need.
And he wasn’t going to get anywhere unless he took a chance.
“Then talk to him and see if he’s interested. You seem to have a connection with him.”
“Really?”
Connie shook her head like he was being dumb. “He smiles at you like the sun shines out of your butt. So yeah, you ask him and see what he says.” Derek had a pretty good idea that if Harm wasn’t interested in what he was proposing, it was likely the whole idea was going to flop.