Let Us Keep What We Love

By 826CHI

This 2020 Teen Writers' Studio (TWS) collection, Let Us Keep What We Love, is a love letter to the self. It is a collection of stories, poems, and essays that span topics such as youth rights, identity, memory, and retold histories. Our young writers put a magnifying glass to the culture and

• Language: English
• Publisher: 826CHI
• Release date: Nov 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798868984990

826CHI

826CHI is a non-profit writing, tutoring, and publishing center dedicated to amplifying the voices of Chicago youth.

Book preview

i tap my wrist & then touch the tips of my little fingers together before pulling them apart (or, acquisition of a heart)

Angeliki V.

at age 16, i smile at my reflection in the mirror & leave. my australian friend sends a video of his asl fingerspelling, wondering if it is intelligible & wishing auslan fingerspelling were also one-handed. my younger cousin is teaching herself in order to sign with me & i love her for it. at lunch, a deaf friend & i compare what we’re doing in our film classes & she teaches me a new sign. in english, another friend cups their hands & turns them over before pointing at me, eyebrows raised (how are you?). we’re both learners & this is excellent daily practice. later, my best friend simcoms her question at me because she doesn’t know if my implants are on. i cannot find classes beyond asl iii, but i am still learning & improving.

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at age 15, i finish washing my hands & look up at my reflection, then head to the camp’s main lodge for announcements. when we’re at the summer fair, a hearing girl pokes her friend & points at us, whispering, look, they’re signing! they’re deaf! i sign this to the rest & we struggle to hide our laughter. an indian girl at our lunch table tries to teach us words in ipsl & thoroughly confuses the welsh boy who is only fluent in bsl. he then tries to teach us the bsl alphabet, & i remember it better because later i can find bsl resources but not ipsl ones. once i’m back home i flick the light switch to get attention because i forget i can just say someone’s name.

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at age 14, i glance at my reflection while i brush my teeth. the mirror reflects the signing girls behind me. i am once again grateful that i reviewed basic signs—what, why, how, name, yes, no—before coming to camp. i keep needing to tap the fingertips of my left hand on the palm of my right (again) but the others are willing to slow down for me. i make sure to sit by the reverse interpreters during announcements. i don’t make any particularly close friends because of the language divide, but near the end of camp i explain the plot of les misérables in asl to someone & am struck by just how much i have learned.

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at age 13, i am better at signing than understanding, so i practice vocabulary in front of the mirror to get used to seeing signs from the other side; finally, my hands are shaping real words. i am taking my first asl class & am thrilled by this, but struggle to shrug off the feeling of wild inadequacy that comes with the fact