Our Japanese student left at 5:45 a.m. this morning. The kids made us promise that we would wake them up when he left so that they could say goodbye. They had all already cried and hugged him goodbye the night before, but one can not get enough suffering when saying goodbye to a new good friend.
Our student, who was rather shy and unsure in the beginning, had turned into a sort of big brother by the end of the week. He watched out for the younger kids when we went places and held their hands as we crossed streets etc. He sat on the floor and played boardgames with Chance and his brother.
Chance wanted to know why our student could not stay longer. And then he wanted to know if we could go visit him in his home in Japan.
Waking Chance when he is in a deep sleep is usually a little like waking the dead. He is a deep sleeper and he can't hear you talk to him, so usually we shake him gently, then shake him more intensely, and then roll him all the way over. Still he sleeps on sometimes.
This morning when I went to wake up Chance, I was expecting the same scenario. I was contemplating what Chance would say later in the morning when I explained that he would not wake up, when he miraculously awakened by just being shaken. He got up and seemed to know right away that he needed to head out to the kitchen and say goodbye.....again.
We had explained to our Japanese student that Chance was deaf and how the implants worked, but we were not sure how much he understood. When Chance came out this morning, with no implants on, our student mouthed the words goodbye to Chance but did not verbally say them out loud. He seemed to know that Chance could read his lips and sound would not be necessary.
So the kids stood in the dark on the porch and our student turned back to wave several times as he made his way across the grass to the car waiting to take him to the chartered buses that would take the students on in their journey.
Chance and his siblings did eventually go back to sleep after we set pillows on the living room floor and layed with them as they whimpered for a while. Chance wanted to know when Hironao's birthday was and then he wanted to know if we had his phone number and if we could visit Japan. All of these questions while we lay in the dark and Chance had no implants on. I convinced him that talking about these things would be more effective later.
When Chance's dad woke him up to shower for school, we all heard him and knew that he was awake. He was wailing his little heart out in the shower. Chance was letting out his grief during his quiet preimplant world this morning. The rest of us hear right when we wake up however, or are awoken by sounds we hear...like Chance this morning:) It is good to get such feelings out.
Chance really took to our student and when I brought him home from school today after helping at the Halloween party, he told me,"Nothing is fun without Hironao."
Chance had fun at the Halloween party, I had noticed that. But the thought of coming home knowing that our student would not be coming back, reminded Chance of his new friend.
Who would have guessed a few years ago that Chance would have gotten to know and love someone who only stayed at our house for a week? The implants make it so Chance can communicate and participate in all that happens in the house. I am so grateful for that. And it is fulfilling for Chance to be a part of everything.
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