I was hoping it would be a while before this question arose. Charlie finally wants to know what would happen to him if something happened to me. Two recent events sparked the question in his mind, and he finally brought it up after wondering for a while.
The first event involved bees. Charlie didn't know I have a deadly allergy to bees until he saw me jump and run when a nest was discovered in a vehicle that has been sitting for a while. That started the thought process.
Then, about 2 weeks ago, I went into the hospital for appendicitis, and had a heart attack while on the operating table. Charlie was greatly relieved upon visiting in the hospital to see me sitting up, talking, signing, and looking okay, just in a lot of pain from the appendix surgery. But that really brought the question to the forefront: What would happen to him?
I explained that his godfather had agreed to be his legal guardian until such time as his older brother was professionally established enough to be able to take over, and that seemed to satisfy him.
He didn't ask for any more specific details than that, such as whether he'd be able to stay at the same school, go to the same church, etc., so I'm guessing that means that he is comfortable with the plan and the people involved. What I'm wondering, but afraid to ask, is whether he really worried that he would have to go back if something happened to me. After some of the stuff I have found out about his past, that possibility would be worse than traumatic to him. But he seems reassured that I've got him covered, so I guess that's all that's important.
Sometimes I'd just love to get inside his mind...
In addition to the brown belt, in the same week, Charlie had two other major accomplishments, in our eyes, anyway!.
Remember when I mentioned he had a role in the school's production of "Dracula"? He won the George Faupel Performing Arts Award (with a $50 savings bond) for that. We drove out to Frederick to see it being presented to him. When he saw us in the auditorium, he was surprised. The school had not told HIM he was getting the award, so he thought he was only there to watch his friends get college scholarships awarded! When he wanted to know why I was there, I told him I had heard there was going to be an ASL movie--look, don't you see the projector down there? And the screen? He swallowed it (boy, that kid is gullible...), and the look of absolute SHOCK on his face was priceless when they called his name for the acting award. Proud mommy? Heck, yeah!!!
Then the next day he brought home a piece of art I had never seen him do. Turns out as soon as he finished it, his teacher scarfed it up and entered it in some high school art competition because she liked it so much. He won third prize there. Here's a picture of the picture, which is now hanging in the dining room:
So, between the brown belt, the acting award, and the art award, he has just had a really big week. I'm afraid it might go to his head.
Charlie's brown belt test. He passed with flying colors, but only one color mattered to him: Brown!!
On top of that, he also won the outstanding achievement trophy.
But wait, there's more! There was even a funny background story happening behind the scenes.
We found out a couple of weeks before the exam that Charlie's regular interpreter would be on vacation and not able to interpret the test. Usually she and I do that together--she interprets the bulk of it as the primary interpreter, and I'll stand at the back as secondary to count and interpret whatever is being said when Charlie is facing the back of the room instead of the front.
Charlie flat-out refused to have a substitute for the primary interpreter and said he wanted me to do it, which is fine, I'm quite capable at this point. So what we cooked up was that his regular terp would request a sub, and we would put the sub in the secondary position, doing what I usually do.
Comes the night of the exam, and I got there about 15 minutes early, and the head instructor informs me the other terp is there already. Once we located him, he introduced himself by first name, and he was very nervous about the fact that they would be using Korean terminology that he wasn't familiar with. I reassured him that all he had to do was keep count (and the numbers didn't even matter so much as the rhythm so that Charlie knew when to do the next move), and that I would sign everything being said even when Charlie wasn't facing me so that the guy could just copy-sign me. Told him it would be the easiest 2-hour assignment of his life. He gave a weak, nervous grin and got in position where we wanted him.
His signing was great, and he did a fine job at what we wanted him to do.
Once the exam was over, and the candidates were sitting there waiting for the judges to finish deciding what belts each person would be awarded, the guy said I looked familiar and asked if I did a lot of community interpreting. I told him I was just a student and was starting practicum next week, and he grinned and said he was really impressed at how I handled the test, and then he introduced himself by both first and last names and said that he was the Senior Manager at __________ (a local interpreting agency).
My jaw just hit the floor - I had tried to get a screening interview with that agency back before Christmas, and it never came about despite many e-mail communications between me and the office staff. When I mentioned that, he said, "I'll take care of that."
The next morning, there was an e-mail waiting for me with a list of times to pick from for a screening interview, and he is also offering to give me some mentoring hours on team assignments with him personally for my practicum requirements. I told him I felt a little silly for having such a senior interpreter there and sticking him in the corner and just having him count and copy-sign, but that on further reflection, I honestly didn't think I would change a thing, since Charlie was nervous about the thought of having a terp who hadn't worked with him previously and didn't know the terminology--and ultimately, Charlie is the client. The guy said not to worry, he wouldn't have changed a thing about how I handled that assignment. (Whew!)
God is good. At just the point when I'm a little worried about the company I work for part-time and how much longer that job will last, God dumps this right in my lap to help me prepare for my new part-time profession. Yay, God!!
And Yay, Charlie, too!! He looks good in brown, don't ya think?
