As he became more rambunctious, attempting to spear his Mommy with said implement, I soothed his auditory increase by using our family's phrase which means, 'be gentle, be kind':
"Love, Keller. Love."
At this, he put down the fork and gingerly lifted up his right hand, fingers just so.
I about fell over.
L'il Man had just used the ASL sign for I Love You!!!
Much later, I related the story to Bethany. In sing-song-y fashion, she began to detail for L'il Man a factoid of our family.
"That's our sign, Keller! Nobody's family does that but us!"
Now, what she meant was 'none of the families I know use this as a universal mark of communication within their household' . . . and as I quickly logged that thought, I felt amazement. I, too, knew of no other family that used the sign as an expression of love on a regular basis.
It is a marker unique to our family, as one that has no practical need to employ ASL.
The tradition began with Larry. He regularly used it, saying "I Love You" as he left the house for work, or sped away from the driveway, or looked at any of us from across the family room.
This morning, Keller and I were taking the DellDog out for a morning break. The GilGuy was leaving for work. As he shifted from reverse to drive after backing out of the drive, he paused just long enough to throw up a sign - no words necessary:
Gosh. How cool is that?
1 comment:
Hey, Angi!
Just had to log in and tell you that we use the "I love you" sign here often. Danny and I have been using it for a VERY long time and the kids have picked up on it and use it as well. I love sign language and would really like to become "fluent" in it beyond the bit that we used when the kids...and particularly K4, were learning to communicate.
Post a Comment