Sometimes it’s the sweet little gestures in life that can have the greatest impact.
Take, for example, a recent video that has gone viral for the literal gestures that one man gave to his “other” family while officiating his sister’s wedding ceremony – and he wasn’t giving the thumbs-up sign.
Just so you don’t get confused about who’s who, here’s a Game of Thrones-style breakdown of the families involved. Bear in mind that, unlike the infamous “red wedding” episode in the HBO series, this ends in tears for a much different reason!
- The Bride – Jamie Kehoe, can’t wait to get to the kissing part
- The Bride’s Plotting Brother – Randy Latini
- The Groom – Brain Regan, can’t wait to get to the after-kissing part
- The Groom’s Clueless Sister – Christina Pacala, mom to Riley
- The Innocent Flower Girl – Riley (she’s deaf)
Since every story has a beginning, we’ll start with Christina and her husband, who were both caught off guard the day they discovered their newborn, Riley, failed a hearing test. At first, they were fearful they wouldn’t be able to communicate with their daughter, but that was just silly.
After doing some research they found out that American Sign Language (ASL) was the 100% best way to communicate with a deaf person.
And it turns out that learning to sign was a lot easier than they thought!
Riley was a complete natural at it and picked it up even faster than her parents did. She does have cochlear implants, but as Christina noted on her Instagram:
“This is not a “fix” for her deafness. Riley will always be deaf and we will always be proud of that.”
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Being deaf had no bearing on how much Christina’s brother, Brian, and his fiancee, Jamie, adored the bright little angel. And because she was always so happy and animated, they thought she’d be the perfect flower girl at their wedding!
Meanwhile, Jamie’s clever brother, Randy, had a secret plot brewing up his sleeve that would change everything.
Randy wanted to make everyone in his new extended family feel right at home, and that included Riley. So he got in touch with a deaf teacher at the school where he works and spent the next two months learning ASL.
No one had any idea that he was learning sign language on his own.
So when he started talking and moving his hands at the same time while joining Brian and Jamie in holy matrimony, it made the surprise that much better!
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Even though Riley is barely two and wouldn’t have been able to understand most of what Randy was signing, Christina knew exactly what was happening and it brought tears to her face.
“I was a bridesmaid and I started sobbing so hard when I realized he wasn’t just moving his hands – he was signing the word ‘family,'” Christina, 34, told TODAY.
“He didn’t make it a big deal; he didn’t even tell anyone. But it was a big deal to us. It signifies that the two families that joined on this day recognize that they have a Deaf family member, and they’ll make an effort to include, love and support her.”
Christina added, ” I mean, she is pretty cute, how could you not love and support her amiright?!”
“Families that learn together and grow together” – that’s one of the phrases Randy signed at the wedding.
Watch the video below to “see” what else he signed to bring this family even closer together.
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