Chance has a reunion

The first several years of Chance's school years were spent at The School for the Deaf in a trailer classroom at a school two cities away.  Chance had a little posse of friends that attended with him and they all rode the bus to and from school together, shared the same teachers, had recess together, had speech therapy from the same teachers, began to integrate into the school classroom together and basically were attached at the hip for several years. These cute kids all moved from two years of preschool, to kindergarten, to first grade and into second grade together.  At that point, it was time for Chance to go out into the wide wide world and attend his local neighborhood school.  He was ready.  He actually ended up being home-schooled for a year and then going into a neighborhood charter school after we caught him up to his peers a bit more.

Chance no longer saw his fellow deaf bosom buddies on a regular basis as all the kids are scattered across the county.   Each of Chance's friend's left the School for the Deaf in their own time when they were ready.

I can still remember the little pack of deaf kids that were so cute and so little!  They seemed to have an understanding of each other even though they didn't always know what was being said.  They had lunch together every day and did the same projects.  They invited each other to their birthday parties and we parents drove kids across the valley to so that they could share in the birthday celebrations.  They were each other's best friends.

Recently, one of the mothers of these kids contacted me through Facebook and Chance was so excited to have a connection with his dear friend again. They immediately planned a get together with another of Chance's deaf friends that lives by us and was part of the original posse.

Chance said that a good time was had by all.  It was just the same as it had been before, they all just clicked and enjoyed being together even though it has been several years since they have seen each other. Chance says that his friend looks just the same - just much taller.

They all like sports and ended up playing lacrosse with neighborhood kids.  Isn't it great that these little deaf kids who could barely get their words understood back in preschool can now just join a pick up game of lacrosse with neighborhood kids who have always been able to hear and no one has a second thought??  It is not an "us" and "them that are different", it is just teenage boys enjoying sports together.  I love that!

I am so happy for Chance that he was able to reconnect with his friend.  I think they are going to make sure that they don't lose touch again and will just pick up where they left off.  They may go to different schools now and live in different cities, but they have a connection forever.  When you grow up learning to hear together in a world where you are the minority,  you make strong connections to those who go through the process with you.

I love these pictures of Chance and all of his friends from the School for the Deaf.  When Chance returned to school after his second implant surgery,  they all gathered around to have a look at his scar.  They were all so fascinated by Chance and this new development in his life.  It was so funny too because these kids had all been through this very same process!  Chance was actually the last one to get an implant in this group so they all actually had more experience than Chance did.  Many of them were much younger than 6 which is when Chance got his.  I remember wondering if they just didn't remember their own surgeries and scars that well because they had been so young when they were implanted.

Yes, it was a fascinating day at school when Chance walked in with a scar on his head, and it made for some very memorable pictures as the kids check out Chance's implant like it is a brand new thing even though they all already have one of their own.