things that happened
On Sunday, April 13th, I thought I was taking a local interpreter out to lunch as a thank you to her for all the time she’s invested in me. When I arrived, she was there holding a big rainbow balloon. For me. And said not everyone was there yet. And people kept coming! I was tippy-tappying like a Labrador retriever! I can’t believe they threw me a surprise party to say congrats, best wishes, and to say goodbye.
After the surprise party, I went to a Deaf event at a rollerskating rink. I didn’t skate, because can you imagine me breaking my arm right before graduation? I hung out with folks, and then one young man was adamant that we get dinner at a place called Golden Chicken. I quickly learned his family is Palestinian, and Golden Chicken is the only Palestinian restaurant in the St. Louis, Missouri area. I had chicken shawarma, and that Salaam soda is unique because I learned that the Coke and Pepsi companies support Israel, so the restaurant doesn’t buy from them.
I arrived home in South Bend, Indiana, on April 26th after fifteen weeks away. Nick is still staring at me like I might vanish, or perhaps I’m not real. I struggled to remember where things are in the kitchen and which light switch in the bathroom turns on the light versus the fan.
I didn’t want to lose momentum, so I started setting up the business side of me becoming a freelance interpreter: an LLC, an EIN, a P.O. box, making an appointment to open a business account at my bank — those sorts of things. I had a meeting with my mentor from last fall about what comes next, and that person recommended that I reach out to businesses and give them my terms and conditions to sign on to. That way, if I work for an agency, they cannot claim I am forbidden from directly contracting with a business they send me to because I established a relationship first. When is the last time you made dozens and dozens of phone calls? It’s exhausting, but it’s business.
Friday, May 2nd I had a mandatory meeting at school, plus an exit interview, so I was on campus all day. That night, we got home and our cat that we’ve had for fifteen years was not well. We ended up having to put her down at the emergency vet. It was pretty emotional, but we knew she was about twenty years old, and we agreed we would not let her suffer. At this point it looked like she had had a stroke during the day or something, and it was clear she couldn’t see (which happened suddenly).
Saturday was graduation day, so mom and dad came to stay with us.
Sunday we drove down to Indianapolis to volunteer at Parent Teacher Counselor Organization (PTCO) Day at the Indiana School for the Deaf. We were there to support the Michiana Deaf Alliance, of which I am a member and my dad is a sponsor. Maybe you can tell from the gloominess of the photo, but it was rainy and freezing!
Things don’t stop there. On Monday it was Cinco de Mayo — my 40th birthday. We ate at my favorite Mexican restaurant, where Dad was persuaded to indulge in margaritas and we ate churros for dessert.
On Tuesday I had my first job as an interpreter after graduation. I cannot tell you much about it, but I was surprised by the number of important people I ended up interpreting for. Then, Tuesday evening was the night of my Thank You party to the Deaf community:
I didn’t invite any interpreters or classmates; I just wanted to do a big, heartfelt thank you. It was a lovely evening, and most people failed to let me just celebrate them! They showed up with graduation presents and hugs and praise. After dinner, the president of the Michiana Deaf Alliance got everyone’s attention and made an announcement, which I interpreted for Dad, Mom, and Nick. It was about how wonderful I am, how great my heart is for the Deaf community, and then they gifted me a name sign, which is extremely significant in Deaf culture.
Wednesday morning, Dad and Biscuit left, and since then I’ve been trying to find my feet. I’ve been recruited by a few agencies, so I’m looking over their terms and conditions to see what’s right for me. I’ve already been hired by a company that provides interpreters for Deaf people to use the phone, which is a great opportunity. However, I know that long term I’ll want to get out in the community.
On May 12 and 13th, I’ll be in Madison, Wisconsin, taking what is called the BEI basic test so I can get certified and licensed and then work in Michigan, too. While Michigan has strict certification/licensing laws, Indiana has none, so that’s why there is a difference.
Thanks for your patience while I’ve been more like a specter than a friend, and I hope to be back to some kind of rhythm soon. All the book reviews posted on my blog since mid-April were pre-scheduled. I haven’t been writing posts lately, that’s for sure!
Grab the Lapels 
That’s not an infodump, that’s an update from a friend whom we haven’t seen a lot of recently.
Sorry about Kitty, but yes 20 is a pretty good innings.
Congratulations on the big 0, but above all congratulations on graduation (Good planning to have them on the same weekend).
If you’re going to work with agencies you are always going to have the problem of do I work direct (for slightly better money) or do I stick with the agency for a more consistent volume of work? It’s an ongoing problem in truck driving too (I mostly stick with the agency).
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I feel bad I haven’t been around as much. I see that I’m still reading all the blog posts and responding the comments, but it comes in waves rather than regularly. I even noticed that my monthly stats email that WordPress sends me says that I was down in April by about 1,000 visitors and over 1,000 comments. Yeesh.
It IS interesting to weigh the differences between going totally solo and working with an agency. They’re doing all the work on the back end to keep us in work, so it makes sense that they get money for that. I didn’t realize it worked quite the same way with trucking, but now that you mention it, it makes sense. I’m assuming this is where Dragan comes in.
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Melanie, you remind me of a whirlwind with everything you have going on in your life. I am so proud of you for all you have accomplished. You have a very loving heart and soul, always seeking to be a friend and helpmate.
I’m so sorry that you’ve lost your beautiful kitty. I love the picture that you posted. It’s almost as if she’s daring you to take one of HER books.
The world is yours, my sweet granddaughter. Go and do wonderful things. Love you lots!
Granny Mavelyn
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Congratulations and condolences.
Usually I love info dumps, in fiction and from people.
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In fiction I get so overwhelmed because I assuming everything an author bothers to include is super important, so an info dump feels more like a deluge of things I’m not responsible for when I’m not really ready.
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You did it – as we knew you would and could. What a grey journey we have all been on either you. I am not surprised that the Michiana deaf community value you (nor that the Missouri people gave you a surprise farewell) because you put such heart and soul into what you do.
I’m sorry there was sadness as well with kitty. How is it that these things so often collide?
Love all the pics. You and Nick look so happy and so young!!
Anyhow, all the best for your next journey. I hope you get lots of great work that you enjoy and feel good about.
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Some of you have been on the journey for a long, long time, remembering me as Professor Page from what feels like just yesterday. I’m glad to hear we look young! It’s very weird to not even be in our 30s anymore.
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Thing is Melanie, we are getting older too so you will always look young to us. As they say, the key to staying young is having older friends!
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Congrats on the Graduation! How many degrees is that now? I am sorry to hear about Kitty. My three are 8 and I hope I have them until they are 20. I am pleased to hear that work is already heading your way. I love following your journey and wish you best.
x The Captain
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That makes four degrees, lol. I’ll stop for now. No more school. Thanks for following my journey–you’ve been here a long time, back when I was a professor even.
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Wow!!! You have a lot of people in your life who love and appreciate you!!!! Congrats on your graduation and deepest condolences to you for the loss of your sweet kitty.
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Hi Jinjer, thanks so much for popping by to say such kind things. I try to make an impact wherever I go, and it’s a lot more fun living that way.
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Congratulations on graduation! You look so happy in the photos x
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Thank you. Truthfully, I did not want to do the graduation cap and gown and all that, but it was totally worth it when I saw my husband’s face as we soon-to-be graduates walked into the event.
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Lovely!
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Huge congratulations on your graduation! Those are great photos – you look very happy 🙂 Sorry to hear about your kitty – that is a lovely photo of her that you’ve included.
(Sorry I haven’t emailed about TTC yet – it’s been an absolutely mad few weeks at work and just now calming down. I’ll email you when I get home!)
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Glad to see I got your email, and I’ve responded. It’s been wild over here, too, so don’t feel bad. We actually got back from Wisconsin last night at 11PM, and poor Nick had to go to work today.
Thank you for the congratulations. You’ve been on the journey with my for so long, dear Lou.
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What a full busy time! It looks like you were well celebrated and I’m so glad you have people around who celebrate you and with you. Hard to say goodbye to Kitty in the midst of all that, I’m sure.
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Everyone keeps saying the dang cat hung on just to see me again after the internship was over. That part stings because in my head it can be true, but the cat also has no sense of time or what an internship is.
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Welcome home and congratulations! I am so excited for you as you begin this new chapter of your life!
So sorry you had to say goodbye to Kitty. I’m glad you were back home for her.
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Yeah, I cannot fathom Nick putting the cat down by himself, so I’m grateful just for that part. The new chapter has been a lot of running around and starting things, but I feel pretty good. I took a certification test in Wisconsin yesterday, so we’ll see how that goes in about 89 business days. Not that I’m counting.
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I’m confident you did great on the certification test! Waiting to find out is hard though.
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I feel pretty 50/50, which is not a bad place to be. It’s rather Zen.
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Whoa you’ve been busy! And I’m so sorry about your kitty, that’s tough. Especially with all the other stuff going on in your life 😦
Congrats on graduation, whoa this is a big deal! How are you feeling right now? Proud? Accomplished? Grateful for all the wonderful people around you, it sounds like 🙂
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Yes, Kitty was hard. I still remember your two cats 🫤 It’s interesting how many of us in the blogging community have pets, and it’s like we get to know the pets, too.
Right now I’m feeling worn out, accomplished, and a little stuck as I wait for a few freelance job opportunities to get moving. 100% grateful.
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Man, so much. I haven’t been reading or writing posts lately – nothing’s wrong, I just haven’t felt like it – and I’ve missed a lot!
First, I am SO sorry about Kitty. It is so hard to have to make that final call. It’s part of having a pet, but it is the worst. Sincere condolences!
Happy birthday! And congratulations on graduating! You’ve just had so much going on. Hope things are settling down nicely now.
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Things still feel kind of weird, like they’re going fast but I’m also stuck. I’ve done a couple of interpreting jobs as a freelancer, but I also agreed to accept a job from a company that has yet to get me a training date. I wish I knew more about what the hold up was, but I’m willing to be patient for a bit longer.
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