There are about a dozen members of Singing Hands, most with ties to the military, who perform monthly at a Tarawa Terrace Chapel service.

The Singing Hands move with grace, led by Ruth White, a retired Navy nurse and corpsman who now works for Onslow County schools as an educational interpreter for the deaf.

“It’s a beautiful, alternative way to express music,” said White. “I’ve always had a passion for the language.”

White has been signing for 15 years, and said she would probably never master what is, for her, a second language.

But when they’re performing, the Singing Hands communicate more than words or even music.

They express a mood as they sign, gazing on members of the congregation, a “giving of heart and spirit,” as described by Julie Marquez, another member of the group.

Some songs they perform are direct messages to the audience, the gentle entreaty “I need you to survive” or just “I love you.”

Marquez is a nurse at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune. She is getting through her husband’s deployment to Kuwait, where he serves as a Navy critical care nurse. To Marquez, the “Singing Hands” has been a blessing, a second family.

“They carry me through the hardest times,” Marquez said.

Signing music has been curative for other members, too. Sandra Marshall was totally paralyzed on her right side after suffering a series of strokes.

She joined the group to work her hands, and every day noticed improvement. Today she is fully functional.

“It’s physical therapy, but this reached my heart,” Marshall said.

White first learned to sign as a way to deal with depression.

Three years ago, she was moved to create Singing Hands, faithfully coming to practice every week, even initially when only one or two others showed up.

She also interprets the non-denominational church service, which can last more than an hour.

Most of their audience is able to hear, but White said she wanted hearing people to be exposed to different ways of worshiping.

Besides a means for the deaf to communicate, American Sign Language is also often taught to very young children.

“Singing Hands” member Lyetta Fant works at Brewster Child Development Center, where she teaches pre-toddler children how to sign words like “more” or “eat,” lessening the frustration they can feel at being misunderstood or unheard.

Grownups can feel that way, too.

“You don’t know what people come to church with,” said Singing Hands member Tanya Threatt. “You tell them you love them; that means so much.”

By Anne Clark
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