Terry and Gallaudet

 

Terry Bittker and John mugging for the camera at her sister's house in Hull in 2005.  Terry has been John's friend since they attended Gallaudet University in Washington DC. together, many years ago.  Terry still lives in the Mid Atlantic area, and sees John rarely, but there has been a real love between them for a long time.
 Terry was a year ahead of John when he arrived at Gallaudet.  She helped him assimilate into the community there. 
John had all of his hearing as a child, and with a hearing aid, he was pretty good in the hearing world.  He had little need of American Sign Language.  Gallaudet was very much into American Sign, and most of its students used it for regular communication.  John and many similar students tended to seek out each others' company.

 

Thanks, Wikipedia for the photo of Gallaudet University in the 1860s...a little before Terry and John's time there. 

 

Of course his hearing problems have some effect on him.  For the most part, however, he never let that stand in his way and I have never found it to be a real obstacle in his life and professional life.  He has held a string of very responsible and trustworthy positions in the banking world over the years.