Hola everyone once again!
With all of this election-craze, what can I say? Yes, it is finally over- the result is in and YEAAAHHH BABY! OBAMA TO THE WHITE HOUSE! I VOTED for the first time in my life and who knew a such small thing stuck on my chest which reads “I voted” could make a difference to my ego? I went to the Bestheda Bapist church on mt olivet road which is in the back of Model Secondary School for the Deaf. I went inside the building and I had to take the Obama pin off because it is the law to not wear any campaign-related items in the polling area. I signed in and they gave me the ballot- there was NO line and that was because I came in at around 3ish while everyone was still at work. The first section was for the presidency race- and I proudly voted for Obama and Biden. My vote sure counted in DC- report shows that 94% of voters voted for Obama, yeah baby- ‘Bama!
Enough with the politics although CNN will email me anytime to interview the first time voters. Now, I just wanted to talk about the joys and perks of our existence on this earth. I looked at some of my old photos- and I looked back on the last few weeks I spent in California before going to Gallaudet. I just realized that I attended a wedding and a funeral in one week. Before I begin- I want to fill you guys in that I am NOT good at dealing with grief or saying “I’m sorry” when a life is taken away on the earth. I just bottle up my emotions and say nothing- that’s how I deal with deaths. Everyone has their own weakness.
While growing up, I had my own childhood friends who are my homies. One of their mothers was already handicapped (not severe) and later had some health complications- where she spent a few years being in a wheelchair and eventually her health went downhill. One day I was notified that she passed away at a hospital because her brain functions were considered “vegetable” and I felt a wave of bitterness crashing down on me. I sucked it up. Later I learned that there would be a funeral and my family would attend since we are family-friends. I became nervous because the last funeral I attended was for my great grandmother which took place more than 5 years ago. I remembered that I did not enjoy it. I still wanted to go to my friend, to pay some respect. I remembered walking up on the stairs before entering the cathedral- the funeral home people gave me a pamphlet which sank my heart. The pamphlet has a quotation as its headline: “Heidi, God saw you getting so tired.” Who knew that those words- the words they used could be so powerful. I mean, we get tired at certain times but the intention of this quotation is WAY different. It was very poignant, still I did not shed a tear. I went and it is a catholic funeral which its procedures took really long, I was very good at handling my emotions while watching others grieve. I sat and watched all the family members on the other side, during the service- we sang songs and listened to some of speeches. They did a lot of blessings until a church assistant came forward and asked the son of the deceased to come over and say the last goodbye. A short fill-in: the son is now a senior in high school, starting his 4th year on the football team and he started his senior year off without his mom.
Anyways, the son came forward and looked at his own mother on the casket. I was sitting, my legs crossed- they begun to shake and I folded my arms stiffly- I no longer was able to control my emotion. The moment- the very last moment of son and mother before she is buried under the soil is right there in my eyes. The sense of anticipation rushed inside my head and watching the son tearing up (he’s a jock so it is not easy for him to cry in front of a crowd) and finally- a tear rolled down on my cheek. I felt much better but another tears came on the other side then there came more. The church service ended and we all were to go to the final burial place, we were given a neon orange bumper sticker that prints: FUNERAL and we put it up on the front window of our van. I sat and realized that they got whole thing arranged- ALL cops were blocking the every intersection of the street to allow us to pass. The hearse was in the front, carrying the body and there were cops riding on the motorcycle and driving the cars all over place. The lifeless one is being honored at this very moment- the peace she deserves was visible when I watched the cops blocking the intersection- the town stopped at the very moment. Funerals are powerful for me, I will attend if it is for a close member of friends and families but other than that- it is not for me.
Then I was very excited for a special event coming up, my first Varsity Co-ed Cheerleading coach and English teacher invited me to her wedding in San Diego which is located in the very deep south of California. San Diego is a very gorgeous big town, where its lapis blue beach lays around it. You want the hollywood minus its plastic surgery craze, go to San Diego. I landed at the Burbank airport and got picked up by a friend then we went on a long roadtrip, finally arrived the location. We rushed through to the hotel to just take a nap before the night of dancing-filled fun. We got dressed and went to the wedding- the very last wedding I attended before this one was more than 6 years ago and I was involved as a flowergirl. The experience was also not pleasant since you are young along with older bridesmaid, you can’t really fullfill the interaction experience with them yet. Back to the point- I arrived at the beachfront and most of the guests were already there. They had this cute program book which was glued to a handle- which makes it a fan!
The wedding was beach-themed with light yellow and sky blue as their color, there were lots of shell decorations and oh boy I won the centerpiece! Anyways, I waited anxiously for the bride because I haven’t seen her since I went back to Gallaudet after the winter intermission! From January to Aug, LONG ENOUGH! The wedding march hummed on the deejay’s speaker and I timely stood up and saw the bride in beautiful gown, the gown’s details were so enormous and she looked like a queen. She had this small tiara covered into veil, her hair was styled into a up-do, and she never looked so happy. The wedding resumed at the reception where most of us partied and danced to the beats, and had our fair share of the cake which was so scrumptious. Everyone was laughing to dialogues and stories of our old times with the bride and the groom. It is a hearing/deaf combination of guest with small number of deaf people. The bride now is working as sorenson video relay interpreter, so in my table- I sat with her co-workers. We shared MANY stories of vp prank calls. Oh man, I cannot believe that there are people who ACTUALLY did those specific pranks (they must be crazy) and the wedding ended so fast. It was because I spent my time: dancing, laughing, taking pictures. It was a very full-filling feeling for me and weddings are FOR ME! Well, it is for everyone?
Ok I think I write too much tonight, to the next time I blog.
Good night!
-C
Oh by the way- I must post the picture of the bride and I 🙂
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