Joan Emerick ­ An Inspiration to Us All

On Thursday, April 4, 2002, Nancy Hale (from Vistas) and I (from Network) attended Joan Emerick's memorial service in Johnson City, NY. It was a first time meeting for Nancy and I, we'd met on the SWC CI list, but never in person. It was exciting to find out that we lived just an hour apart, and that we were both planning to attend the service for Joan, so we arranged to meet at the church and do this article together.

As neither of us is Catholic, it was the first time for both of us to attend a Catholic memorial service. We were impressed by the beauty of St. James Church. What a beautiful big old church, so filled with beauty and grace. The church was still decorated for Easter, with beautiful flowers everywhere.

The service, which was VERY well attended, was led by three priests, one of whom was the primary speaker. He signed as he spoke; it was so inspiring to watch him. Neither of us is fluent in sign, but it was awesome watching him as he performed the service. I believe it gave more meaning to the service, even to those who do not sign, as Joan, like us, was deaf in her later years.

We were impressed by the solemn beauty of the service. The priest began by focusing on words of comfort from the word of God. He then shared some words about Joan. He spoke of conversations he'd had with her through the years, and how you never knew what she was going to come out with. Her intelligence and humor always came out in what she said and did, in how she handled life's difficulties. He felt the one thing that stood out the most about Joan was how she believed in "living life". No matter what problems befell her, she dealt with them head-on, didn't let them get her down or hold her back. She was a working RN in her middle 20s when she was diagnosed with NF2. After finding out what it was going to mean to her future, and realizing that nursing would before long not be an option for her any longer as she would eventually be deaf, she returned to school, getting a bachelor's degree in social work from Gallaudet University, then an MSW at Syracuse University. She then worked for some time with the deaf/hoh community in the Syracuse area. (Oh, I wish I'd known her then, I lived less than one hour from her!). Joan never gave up on life. She lived it to the utmost, right to the very end. I feel a sadness that I never knew her in person, only through the International Chat (SWC)..

Nancy and I left the service feeling very much in awe of this wonderful, strong, gutsy lady, and realizing what an inspiration her story is to us all. Even at the end, she was NOT giving up, ..going through a very risky surgery with the hope of improving her quality of life (hearing), rather than just sitting back and letting circumstances control her. She was determined to live life to the utmost. She took a chance and lost, but we feel confident, knowing what we now know about her, that she'd have no regrets. Life is for the living, that's what she'd say.

--- Linda Stock and Nancy Hale