Rory's Words

Rory's little brother Taylor
Was diagnosed on his first birthday

Most of it gone
The hearing
More may follow
Some may come back

Rory was six
And although Taylor would never need to adjust to the news
Rory had to be told
And it was difficult

'He can't hear?'
'No'
'No'

(Rory)
(Mom)
(Dad)

'Good thing I'm learning to write.'

(Rory)

'Well...'

(Mom)

To sign

They would learn
They would all learn

It would become like second nature

It would be even easier for Rory
Because he was young

It would be a good skill
For him to have

But Rory didn't want to sign
Rory wanted to write

'That's what writing's for.'

(Rory)

Soon he was taking Taylor everywhere with him
Using the wagon he'd gotten for his birthday

He'd hold something up
Then hold up the word
That attached to the thing

Rory's mother was reminded of 'The Miracle Worker'

'Water. Water.'

(Annie Sullivan)

It wasn't until a month had gone by
That Rory's mother noticed
That the things he was writing on the little dry erase board
His father had bought him
Did not match up with the objects

Object: Flower
Word: Girls

'Rory, that's a flower. Not a girl. Certainly not girls. That's plural.'

(Mom)

'But girls like flowers. He needs to know that.'

(Rory)

She was going to say something
But she decided to let it go

Rory would grow out of this
And Taylor was so young
What difference did it make?

'All right'

(Mom)

Soon, Rory's words became something else
A window his parents
Into his associations

What meant what to him

Object: Cucumber
Word: Disgusting

Object: Giant Refrigerator Box
Word: Castle

Object: Swing set
Word: Disaster

'Rory, why did you write "disaster?"'

(Dad)

'When you put it up, Mom said--"Wait until Rory falls off one day. It'll be a disaster.'

(Rory)

Soon Rory realized
That it would be easier
To stick words all over the house
On little Post-It notes

Object: Photo of Grandma May
Word: Money

'Money?'

(Mom)

'Dad says she's made of money.'

(Rory)

Object: Rocking Horse
Word: Fred

'His name is Fred.'
'I figured that.'

(Rory)
(Dad)

Object: Red Wine Stain on the Carpet
Word: Auntie Jane

'It's so Taylor learns about responsibility.'
'I like how you think.'

(Rory)
(Mom)

Soon Rory was looking up words
Or asking for words
More words
More descriptive words

His teachers said
He was flying through vocabulary
And so when Taylor's specialist said
That this little exercise
Was not a good idea
That it would confuse him as he got older

Rory's mother and father nodded politely
Then thought to themselves--

We'll see

The truth was
They'd grown used to Rory's words

Object: Microwave
Words: Black Box Lava Souffle

Object: Bag of Golf Clubs
Words: Dad's Sunday Afternoon

Object: Blue Sweater
Words: Cozy Winter Hot Chocolate Reminder

Now the entire house
Was covered in words

It felt like living in a dictionary
A strange dictionary
A more poetic version

'We should stop this'
'I know'
'You do it'
'Fat chance'
'Fine'

(Dad)
(Mom)
(Dad)
(Mom)
(Dad)

Meanwhile they were diligent in learning to sign
And they had decided that words or no words
Rory would learn too

When they informed him of this
He politely declined
So that they had to tell him
This wasn't a choice

He would have to learn to sign
It was better for Taylor

'So what I'm doing is hurting Taylor?'

(Rory)

Mom and Dad looked at each other

'It's not that it's hurting him.'
'It's just not going to be very helpful to him in the long run.'
'Well, it will--'
'Yes, I mean, it will--'
'Just not as much as signing will.'

(Mom)
(Dad)
(Mom)
(Dad)
(Mom)

'Okay. Never mind. I'll learn.'

(Rory)

And he did
And the notes were taken down
Not by his parents
But by Rory

Once the notes were down
His mother realized how pointless the whole thing had been
Sweet, of course, sentimental
But pointless

Rory was trying to teach Taylor sound
With words, and that wasn't possible

How do you describe the sound a microwave makes if you can't hear it?
How do you explain to a little boy what his wealthy grandmother sounds like?
How do you convey an orchestra or an airplane going by or the first word a baby says?

Rory was giving everything names
But he couldn't give them sounds

That was something that Taylor
Was just going to have to live without

Then one day, Mom was going through a closet
Rory was in the living room watching Taylor
Doing the alphabet in sign
Over and over
Occasionally letting Taylor
Chew on his fingers

'Rory, don't let him do that if it hurts you'
'It doesn't hurt, Mom'

(Mom)
(Rory)

She came across the album
At the back of the closet
Underneath a box of winter clothes

It was the baby book they'd kept for Rory
Although, once they'd had Taylor
She and Dad forgot to update it

Such is the guilt of parents
With more than one child

She opened the baby book to the first page

'Baby's First Photo'

And there she was, with Dad
Holding baby Rory

Next to the photo was a note--

Note: Big Joy

The next photo was Dad holding Rory, both fast asleep--

Note: Safety Dad

Then one of Mom holding Rory while he took his first step--

Note: Always Okay

And even Grandma May--

Note: Cash in Cards

With every photo there was a note
And each note was a few words
A thought
Adjectives
Nothing much

It wasn't the sound of the wind on a spring day
But it was, clearly, sufficient

It occurred to Mom that even if Taylor had his hearing
Rory might have thought to do this anyway

He was telling his brother
Everything he needed to know
About the world

She looked in the living room

Taylor was on his back
And Rory was next to him
They were looking at the ceiling
And reaching out their hands

It looked like they were willing
The ceiling to come closer

And Rory was moving his fingers around
In a strange sort of way

Then she heard him say--

'Sky'

(Rory)

Fingers tracing--

'Sky'

(Rory)

Fingers curving
Carving words
Out of air

'Almost Sky'

And as Rory's fingers moved
Taylor's fingers reached up
And grabbed
And wrapped
Right around

His brother's hands