I was about four years old when I met one of my very first Deaf friend, Jenine. We met at a camp for deaf children and their families. Our hearing parents became acquaintanced with one another at this camp which meant Jenine and I were able to pursue a friendship before school began.

Jenine was a troublemaker: whenever Mom would come to pick me up from her house, she’d hide my shoes so that I could stick around for longer! What a fucking clever kid!

Being a year older, she started high school before I did, and found her “crowd”. We still spent some time together, talking about our love for horses, visiting the mall to look at posters, and shoplift whatever we could fit down our sweatshirt sleeves. Jenine became more rebellious as the years went on whereas I just became paranoid about stuff like going to jail for shoplifting lip balm. She experimented with drugs, and the most extreme thing I had ever done was finish a 32oz cup of Slurpee. I was a jittery teenager for so many different reasons.

Shortly after Jenine graduated high school she had a child, then I literally put some distance between us when I moved to Calgary.

When we tried reconnecting in 2008, we discovered that we were still too different.

Would 10 years change anything? This is what I set out to find out when I met up with her in Burnaby on Thursday the 12th.

Continue reading “Relapsed friendship.” →

I can feel my eyes burn from the exhaustion that comes with being three hours behind psychologically. I am jetlagged, yet refreshed.

Yesterday concluded an 11-day visit to southwest BC. Last year I took Yann with me and got to show him all my favourite places and eateries. This year’s trip was more focused on reconnecting with friends, which started off rather poorly when the first friend I had arrangements with attempted to postpone our plans as it no longer worked for them.

“Oh yeah, sure, I have less than 11 days here but let me work around *your* schedule.”

…Is what I would’ve said if I had a little more sass.

I spent the morning of the 11th visiting my grandparents in Surrey and then finished the day looking through old photos at Dad’s place in rainy Maple Ridge. I was trying to find the most awkward photo of myself to share on Instagram but my goofiest-looking era happened to coincide with when glossy photos were at the height of popularity. All attempts at taking a photo of said glossy photos resulted in a present-day visage within the photo.

Fortunately, my awkward years continued well into my late teens when matte photos had made a comeback:

Continue reading “A quasi-Vancouverite visits Vancouver.” →