博客存档 - MOUTH TO HAND LEARNING CENTER

A GIRL'S HEART

BY KAITLIN FLAHERTY

Almost all nonspeakers are male. Here at M2H, I am in a poetry club: me and five guys. I am in a book club: me and four guys. I am in a math club…me and a bunch of guys. There are only a handful of girls here, amid a sea of boys. This place is swimming in testosterone. I am thankful that so many of these men are my friends. And of course I have the best boyfriend on earth. But there are differences in the perspectives of men and women. As a nonspeaking woman, I have experiences and thoughts that are only feminine in nature.

Of course there are many things in common among us nonspeakers. But in this blog, I’ll talk from my girl’s heart.

3/28/2025 1 Comment

The Bar Mitzvah

I went to Alex’s bar mitzvah on Saturday and it was the best day of my life. The synagogue service was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. Being there and seeing Alex typing the Hebrew was the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen. My body won’t cry, but I was bawling inside. It meant more to me than I can express. I knew how sick he was for all those years, so to see him on that stage, so calm and happy, had me weeping inside from happiness.

His sermon was totally the most beautiful thing ever. He talked about the building of the tabernacle in the desert, after the Israelites left Egypt. They gave so much that Moses had to tell them to stop giving. In giving generously, the people built a place that God could come to, to be with them. Alex compared that to M2H. Judy built it out of love and generosity - and God comes wherever there are acts of love.

As I sat there, my body was calmer than I ever remember, and even my OCD vanished. God was there because there was so much love. It felt beyond wonderful - and I know we all felt it. That was the greatest moment of my life.

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3/14/2025 0 Comments

Self-Image

I hate how I look. When I said that to Judy today, she responded, “Welcome to girl-hood!” I am laughing now because that is kind of true. I don’t think I know even one girl who loves how she looks. I guess I never thought of that until Judy made that comment.

Why is that, I wonder? I think it really may be influence by the media. In thinking about it, I realize that I have only ever seen super skinny models. How insidious! I’ll bet they are all starving most of the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them had anorexia. I have no doubt that many of them are underweight.

On top of that, now that I’m thinking of it, how many of them had plastic surgery?

I never thought much about influence before. Maybe my self-image is unrealistic. I will have to consider that.