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magical fruit
continued... By
Mike Touzeau
Numerous awards She worked tirelessly for the rights of the deaf. At her insistence, GLAD joined CAPH, and eventually her dream back at Hollywood High was realized. She received numerous awards, and through her efforts saw sign language become a part of everyday life in America. That would seem enough for most people, but his bubbling bundle of energy needed a new challenge, so she sold her house in Los Angeles and spent two years in Europe collecting information on sign language to put together a book she called her "journey in signs." She returned to her roots in this area to build a house and write. that's when two totally unrelated discoveries launched a second career, and a new dream, this one centered on something as simple as the prickly pear cactus that grows all around us. She discovered in her travels that different cultures have different signs for the same word. "The signs for feelings (and thus related to their wellness) in America were centered around the chest," McGee said. "In Spain, it was above the neck. In China the area around the liver." "It occurred to me that health problems among Americans are centered around the heart and lungs, and the Spaniards had more problems with oral cancers, while the Chinese had problems related to the liver." Although she found that interesting, she didn't give it much thought until after an experience with selling her prickly pear jams and jellies at a fair in Green Valley in 1991. "We always made jelly from prickly pear out here in Arizona when I was a little girl. So, I just thought I would try to sell some of it a the local Green Valley Fair."
She set up a makeshift stand in the Green Valley Mall, and the retired
residents, most of whom were winter residents at the time, took some home
to share with their families.
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