Cantorial Soloist

MARCIE SHULMAN

Hillary Fisher, 26, will wed Jordan, 32, this June.

his head to read the instructor's lips,"
Mollene said. Sending Jordan off to
overnight camp brought the worry of
lost hearing aids.
Never embarrassed by the hearing
aids, Jordan just wore them. Although
when he was little he wore them with
the help of double stick carpet tape.
Not only didn't Jordan try to hide his
hearing loss, at times he flaunted it. "At
Michigan State hockey camp, when I
was 11 or 12, I would stand down the
hall in the dorm and the guys would
see how far they could move and still
have me read their lips," Jordan said.
That was an indication of Jordan's
comfort level and confidence, accord-
ing to his dad. "A lot of people with
handicaps are somewhat reticent:'
Marty said. "We wanted to create an
atmosphere where Jordan was able to
speak for himself"
Even though he didn't know it at the
time, Jordan grew up dependent on his
parents' intervention.
"I first realized this when I called
my parents and asked them to switch
me out of a college class because the
professor's full beard kept me from
reading his lips, which I have to do
in large settings;' Jordan said. "They
told me,`You're a big boy, take care of
it yourself, and I did. I learned not to
take `no' for an answer."
His mom added, "Now he gets people
to do all kinds of things. First we were
the ones who were relentless. Now it's
Jordan who became relentless!'

Writing It Down
Through the years, Mollene said, when
we'd tell our story, people would say,
`You really should write a book.'" Now

that Jordan's dad has written the book,
Mollene said, "I'm hoping people who
don't know Jordan will be touched by
him through it!'
Jordan's dad — who co-produced
the My Kids 1st Coach video about
preventing childhood obesity — wrote
We Were Relentless as an inspiring .
account of Jordan's rise above disabili-
ties and challenges. But it is also an
informative, often humorous, honest
portrayal of the frustration, love and
relentless encouragement and drive of
his parents.
Jordan has turned his experiences
into a secondary occupation as an
inspirational speaker, talking about
overcoming challenges and making
positive life changes to groups rang-
ing from adult professionals to school
children.
"I speak about how to be relentless
in pursuit of your dreams, and help
teach how to succeed in ways never
thought possible Jordan said.
He began his speaking career
after comfortably enjoying talking in
front of a crowd at his bar mitzvah
celebration at Birmingham Temple
in Farmington Hills. Soon after, he
volunteered to speak at the Toronto
Voice Conference, the same program
where Mollene and Marty first met Dr.
Griffiths.
"It's hard to explain my brother:'
Brian said. "If I say he's profoundly
deaf, people assume he's in special ed
and that he signs. They never imagine
he has a job and lives a normal life"
When Hillary Fisher first noticed
Jordan on JDate.com , she didn't know

Please come and join us at Regent
Street of West Bloomfield as we
enjoy the wonderful music of
Cantor Marcie Shulman. Call to let
us know you're coming or just come
by and enjoy!

trth
f t-Offaly
230 - 3:36 Intl

REGENT T1 STREET

cd2,OF WEST BLOOMFIELDOP

ASSISTED LIVING

4460 Orchard Lake Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48323

'We Were Relentless' on page A18

MN

February 12 • 2009

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