The In-Between

In honour of Deaf Awareness Month

Being deaf or being hearing is the question.

Am I one or the other?

Neither or both?

My answer to that is “I honestly don’t know”.

To be unsure of your identity because you don’t fit into society's favourite perfectly, squared box.

I can hear the sound of birds in the morning,

I can hear the sound of laughter on a Friday night in town. 

But with a sound of a 

Beeeeep.

I am in complete and utter silence.

I will always wonder what it’s like to wake up to a thunderstorm,

Or the convenience of not having to always get accommodations,

Vibrating alarm clocks, speaker systems, strobe lights, and closed captions...

Not having to constantly try to be on top of a conversation,

To have to ask “what did you say?” and end up missing a joke that

No one will repeat.

To be questioned “how can you be deaf, you speak so well?”

Or “ you don’t need accommodations, you can hear!”

So, I am in-between-

In between two worlds that don’t understand each other.

I get to experience a little bit of both worlds- 

That I will never get to be an official member of. 

They say September is deaf awareness month,

But remember it’s not for just those of us who fit your image of deaf. 

It is also for those of us in the in-between.