I Saw the Sign

When I was single, my three biggest fears were:

1. Driving a minivan
2. Living in the suburbs
3. Small children

I thought having any one of those would take away my soul. Now, I routinely drive a minivan through the suburbs chauffeuring around two small children. Instead of driving to meet friends at the local bar or restaurant, I now find myself driving to Kid’s Empire, KidMania, or Pinkberry. I remember dreading the day when I was going to have to tell my guy friends that we bought a minivan. Well, most of my guy friends are dads now, so when I told them about our new Chrysler Pacifica, they all said, “That’s a good idea. You are going to love it.” Boy, times have changed.

One year ago, we made the inevitable parental move to the suburbs. We were living in North Dallas at the time. It felt like the burbs, but I proudly told everyone that I still lived within the city limits of Dallas. It was the perfect situation for me because I could still be a dad and still think I was cool at the same time.

Having a deaf child changed all that. When we realized that Audrey would be in special education, I started asking my friends who worked in education for recommendations. My buddy Mike, a special ed teacher, said, “Go to Plano. They take special ed to another level.”

Then, one day the internet was out at our house, so I headed to a local bar to work. I had to find a location with free wifi. I could’ve gone to the library, but they don’t serve beer. Since it was early afternoon on a Tuesday, I was the only one sitting at the bar. So when a friend called, I picked up the phone and took the call since I didn’t have to worry about annoying any other patrons. My friend said he had heard about Audrey’s situation and asked about her condition. I spent the next several minutes explaining Audrey’s diagnosis. A few minutes later, the bar manager, Sarah, came over and said, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but did I hear you say CHARGE Syndrome?”

I told her about Audrey, and she mentioned that she was a speech pathologist who had worked in deaf education for over twenty years. She said that she worked with a few kids who had CHARGE. Over the next several months, I occasionally stopped by the bar, and every time Sarah asked about Audrey. I always had a story and a video or two to share.

Then one time, she asked, “Where do you live?”

I replied, “Just a couple of miles west of here.”

She said, “Get to Plano. They have everything you will ever need for your daughter.”

So we did.

We thought it would be the best thing for both of our girls. Plano is a great school district, so we knew the move would be good for Ella as well. It was bittersweet leaving our old neighborhood. We loved it there, but I would move to Novosibirsk, Siberia if it was the best place for my children. Luckily, Plano has a better special education program than Novosibirsk.

Even though it felt like the right thing to do, sometimes it helps to get a sign that you’ve made the right decision.

On the first day of school, I carried little Audrey into her classroom, and who was the first person I saw? Sarah.

She smiled and said, “I’m back in the classroom this year, and I was so excited to see that Audrey was going to be in my class.”

I didn’t have to look too hard to see that sign.