Yelling at a Deaf kid.

One of my favorite stories about "how to raise a Deaf kid" that you ever told me revolved around the way you "yell" at one. 

As the story goes, whenever Kati was in trouble, and you'd have to intervene to set her straight, the discipline process could get complicated. It's hard to yell at a Deaf kid. Yes, you can make your signs bigger, your expression more serious ... but at any point, that cute little girl in the blond ringlet curls could simply close her eyes. 

And, by doing so, all the yelling in the world, whether it was in ASL or just good, old fashioned hollering, was rendered completely and totally pointless. 

You could carry on all you wanted and she could just sit there, eyes closed with a smile on her face, blocking you out. 

That's how this feels to me. 

You've just closed your eyes. You're pretending none of this exists. Your life. Your family. Your history. Your kindness. Your gut. Your peace. Your reality. 

We do exist. We are here. Closing your eyes and running away doesn't change anything that's happened or anything that's to come. You can't ignore it or us. At some point, you have to deal with this to move forward. 

Open your goddamn eyes. 

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