Transcript:
Hello! I am Marty Taylor, the owner of Interpreting Consolidated (IC). I want to share a story about my mother, Bernie Taylor. She passed away on August 12, 2022 at the age of 100.
Raised in Seattle, I had no deaf family members; we were all hearing.
My first encounter with sign language was a deaf girl on the bus to school. I wanted to take ASL classes.
Unfortunately, I was too young for the weekly night classes at the college. However, if my mother or father took the class, I was permitted to take it as well.
Mom and I decided to take a night class once a week. Our skills were quite basic but we enjoyed it.
Our ASL teacher asked if we were willing to shop with two deaf blind sisters in the community. Of course we were willing! These two women gave my mother and I our name signs.
Continuing our work in the deaf blind community, Mom and I enrolled in an interpreting program at Seattle Community College.
Upon graduation, Bernie worked for many years as an interpreter in the deaf blind community (of course!), post secondary, medical field and in the tech industry. She interpreted at Microsoft for over twenty years.
Continuing the tradition in our family, Kat, Bernie’s granddaughter, has also been an interpreter for several years.
Thank you!