EPISODE 1,182: CONVERSATION WITH ERIC SKEOCH: DID DAD REALLY USE SIGN LANGUAGE ON THE SS CAYUGA IN 1948?
alan skeoch
Nov. 15, 2024
SS CAYUGA. built 1907. scrapped 1960. carried 19 million passengers.
ALAN AND DAD…SIGN LANGUAGE
“Hey Eric, did dad really know sign language? “
Remember that excursion on the SS Cayuga to Port Dalhousie or the Niagara river? I think it was
the summer of 1948 when mom persuaded dad join us on board
at Toronto harbour. Cost was reasonable…$1 for adults 50 cents for kids.
The Cayuga was getting old but the trip only took 2 hours with a capacity
crowd of 1800 people. The Cayuga was not scrapped until 1960. Regular
two hour trips by water then bus to Niagara Falls.
One of the enduring memories is dad surrounded by a crowd of 20 or so’deaf people.
Stone deaf. Dad is in the centre wiggling his fingers rapdly. And the deaf people
are laughing. Tears in their eyes kind of laughter. They were enjoying his silliness.
We were embarrassed. Seemed to us that dad was poking cruel fun at their handicap.
Now I see things a bit differently. Last year I had knee surgery and was in a
wheelchair for a time. Nobody talked to me. It was a feeling that I did not
exist. So I began speaking to others in wheelchairs and often their faces lit up.
And I thought of dad among the deaf crowd on the SS Cayuga. They knew dad
was silly. They loved being acknowledged.
