Grif Waktins

Well, what can I say? I was born in August of 1966 to a pretty well off family. Brought up in Brighton by a loving mum and an emotionally distant dad, y’know- the usual. I guess an interesting thing was my younger sister, Grace- was born deaf. Upset my mum like nothing else, honestly… Dad, however- bein’ the studious and forward thinking man he was, got the whole family to start on sign language. I started learning when I was three, so it kinda just is something I can do for as long as I’ve been able to remember.

We were pretty well off. Not the richest, but I never really had to worry about getting enough food, toys, whatever. I didn’t notice, was just a kid back then. I loved going to the beach with my mum and sister- ‘s prob’ly the fondest memories I’ve got of back then. Dad never wanted to come, though- said he was too busy with work, or just wasn’t feeling up to it.

I never really struggled with school. I was alright at making friends, I got decent grades. It was more boring than challenging, and the other kids were honestly not that interesting. That was- till a new kid joined at the beginning of year 5. The teacher told us his name was Alex, and he’d been homeschooled beforehand, but the lad didn’t actually say anything himself. He didn’t speak for quite a while, honestly. The other kids picked on him ‘cus he was wearing this mask- he’s got a burn scar covering most of his face, and it hadn’t fully healed back then.

Anyways, he knew BSL, too. I was the one to first approach him, of course- the poor sod was scared to death of other kids, especially since they’d already started to pick on him. We grew close over the next few years, spent a lot of time together. I got into a lot of trouble gettin’ into fights with the twats who thought making fun of an abused kid’s scar was a reasonable passtime. Was worth it- I even gave some kids a few scars of their own when it got really bad for Saph.

Then this fuckin’ happened… Honestly still not forgiven my dad for packing all our bags and movin’ to the states. Yeah- he landed a job as a materials science engineer, great for him. Still not a great time for me, let alone Grace… We moved when I was 14. Saph was devastated. I still kept in touch with him via mail, but that was barely anything. The transition to ASL was a ball ache, too- Grace struggled a lot, but mum and I made sure to help her wherever we could. Took me years to get it down properly, but I got it.

School, for me- wasn’t the best either. My grades suffered only a little, but I struggled making friends. I missed Saph. I missed the beach. Finishing high school was kind of a blur, by the time it was over, I was suddenly 18 and needed to do something with my life. I enrolled at Louisville state university for undergraduate studies.

Yeah, I flubbed it. Dad wasn’t happy, mum was just trying to be there for me best she could, which wasn’t really the best, but- at least she tried. I wandered about a bit with my life, working odd dead end jobs, nothing really stuck. I’ve always wanted to host my own radio station, just playing good music and chatting with interesting people- was a life long dream of mine, I even started that course in music production and audio engineering for it! Fuckin’ idiot…

Anyways- after years of bumbling about like some idiot, I finally got the opportunity to start an apprenticeship at LBMW broadcasting. I leapt at that, and picked it up quick, working under a sound engineer. It was something I actually enjoyed- felt like my life was finally sorting itself out after god knows how fuckin’ long.

Around that time, Saph had moved to Kentucky, and even enrolled in LSU like I did! We’d been staying in touch over the years, and he talked about how he wanted to see me again, so he’d be attending the university I lived and even worked right close to.

Saph started working at a bar nearby, I can’t remember it’s name- but shortly after we’d reconnected, he introduced me to Aisy, one of his co-workers, she’s lovely- bright and energetic when she wants to be. Anyways, I don’t really know how it happened, but- after a while of us all knowing each other, we kinda ended up realising how much we all cared for one another. It was an odd thing, took a lot of talking and convincing people weren’t crazy or awful for it but- we all ended up together, and I love every one of them.

I was off work that day, lookin’ up at the eclipse like most people. To be honest, the first thing that entered my mind when everything went to shit was to get to the others, make sure they’re safe and- well, alive. I’m not a religious guy but- Thank god they were… Now, I just gotta make sure they stay that way, no matter what…