As I waited for the speech to start, I felt a touch on my shoulder. Looking up, I found a young woman smiling at me, holding a notebook. I ________ at once who she was.

The week before we had shared emails, and I told her I would be sitting in the front row. I always sat at the front because I’m ________ and needed to watch the way the speaker’s lips (嘴唇) move. “I’m Rosie,” the young woman said. She was the first person I’d ever met who was my age and wore hearing aids. At my school, I was the only person who wore hearing aids. So I was surprised to see Rosie wearing them. She tied her hair back, and didn’t try to ________ them like I did.

After the speech, Rosie and I carried on talking. She always remembered to look at me when we talked. I didn’t have to worry that she’d ________ away, and I’d miss a joke or statement. We both tried to make communication clear and noticeable. I once ________ that deafness was some kind of weakness but here was Rosie, who was clever, wise, full of fun and deaf. What was the big ________ ?

I felt like a window had opened on my own experience as a deaf person. Partly it was the joy of being able to talk ________. We discussed noisy social events, or group conversations, where we felt like outsiders. The knowledge that I wasn’t the only deaf student at school made the experience feel less lonely.

We continued to share notes on being deaf. Learning to speak up for myself as a deaf person in the workplace was hard. But Rosie was more positive, and she held up a ________ to my own experience, setting a good example for me. Our friendship has become an important part of who I am as well.