Albert was replying to his wife. On his hands he said to her, “I found it. Now it belongs to me. It is something important! Important! It means something. From now on we well get along better, have more understanding …. Maybe when we reach Niagara Falls we will even fall in love, the way other people have done. Maybe our marriage was really for love, after all, not for other reason—both of us afflicted in the same way, unable to speak, lonely because of that. Now you can stop being ashamed of me, for being so cautious and slow all my life, for taking my own time …. You can take hope. Because it was I who found the key. Remember that—I found it.” He laughed all at once, quite silently. Everyone stared at his impassioned little speech as it came from his fingers.

From “The Key” by Eudora Welty

In this paragraph Eudora Welty brings out with keen candor the mood and state of mind of a young deafmute couple—their hope for the blessing of love and a better life together: “From now on we well get along better, have more understanding …. Maybe when we reach Niagara Falls we will even fall in love …”

One of my patients told me a story I will never forget.  He was a young policeman working for the City of Chicago when he was called to check a false alarm.  A young deafmute woman opened the door, and he was struck by her beauty.  Once the issue at hand was resolved, he got permission from her parents to ask her out.  He talked to her the best way he could, but she shook her head and declined. On several occasions, he knocked on her door and proffered her flower bouquets, but got the same response. He decided to go to school and study sign language. After a few months, he came back talked to her with his fingers, and she accepted his invitation.  After a while, they got married and had several healthy children.