Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Fae Chapman.
Hi Sarah Fae, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am Sarah Fae Chapman. Sarah Fae is my first name, and I am not awkwardly oversharing my middle name 😉 I legally changed Sarah to Sarah Fae, and I chose a new last name in September of 2024. It was an intentional process, and I love hearing empowerment spoken to name me. I would adore it if folks could pretty please remember to use my full first name 🙂
When people look at my life now and want the brief summary of “who we are” I think it would look something like this:
I am a mama to five hobbits. Oliver (16), Coraline (14), Pippin (8), Griffin (7), and Elinor (5) are the sparkle in my sky and the five reasons I do all the things I do. I never set out to have five kids, but the best things are often not planned! We moved to Georgia 4 years ago from Oregon. I get the question “why” often, and while it is a multifaceted answer, the simple answer is that I moved here to ensure my three youngest ones had racial mirrors while growing up. In Oregon, they were not able to look around a room and find folks who looked like them, and as a white mom to beautiful children of color, I knew I needed to place my family some place where everyone could see themselves. So, here we are 🙂
I am a nationally certified ASL/English interpreter (sign language interpreter) and have been for about 20 years. I used to do photography quite a lot in Oregon, but since moving to Savannah and also being a solo parent to these five beautiful hobbits, the sunset hour budget is hard to come by and I only take a few sessions a year for friends. Lucky for me, I have amazing models I pose throughout the year to keep us documented and creative. It’s my Christmas gift to myself every year to take our family portrait, and you see a few of those here.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
To take it back to circa 2011 – I had one kiddo, Oliver and was never going to be pregnant again. I knew I wanted to be a mom again, but I was going to take a break and earn my master’s degree, then look into adoption. I applied to grad school, got accepted, and that week found out I was pregnant. So, I did both. And it’s never slowed down since. During that time, I was a full time grad student, full time staff interpreter at a university, I worked part time at a video relay center at night, I commuted a long way, I did freelance work on the side, and was doing photography to make ends meet. And I had a very small child, was very pregnancy, and also became the breadwinner during all of that. I was – stressed to say the least, but we can only do our best.
Coraline was born, I finished grad school, transitioned to a faculty position at the same university, and still worked several side things to make ends meet, provide for my family, and make sure we had medical insurance. And good thing we did, because when Coraline was almost three, she became quite ill and we spent a good deal of time figuring out how to be well again. It was NOT an easy or straight forward road. During those few years, we moved to a smaller town and bigger house closer to the university where I worked so I would be on the road less. Once Coraline had her major surgeries under way, we got the best gift…
Pippin! Pippin was adopted in 2018. She is like holding a lit firework. She is SO pretty and sparkly, SO full of potential…and a little dangerous. Her personality is BIG and she has changed my world for the better. I knew in my heart I would likely adopt again. I didn’t want Pippin to be the only person of color in her family, but I would think about that after the baby stage. I didn’t have to think about though, because when she was four months old, we got a call from her birth parents that they were pregnant again and they wanted to place the baby with my family. Yes one thousand times.
Pippin and Griffin are thirteen months apart. I was TIRED, still working a lot and balancing life logistics as parents do. Then I got another call – there was another baby bird. My heart screamed yes, but guys, I was so tired. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I asked for two weeks so I could pray, plan, and figure out some really real life logistics that matter. I had to rip a room apart, make a new floor, be sure we could all fit into the van and the house and could I take another year of a baby’s first year? My two weeks of focus lead me to a “YES” with zero worldly hesitations. And that’s how I escalated to five hobbits so very quickly. Elinor finished by bouquet of babies during covid born in an epicenter, while Oregon was on literal fire, and all of our lives changed drastically.
I moved to Georgia in 2022 and a divorce quickly followed. No part of that went smoothly despite my best efforts and dreams of a wonderful coparenting plan. I can say, though, that my Hobbit House is filled with love and resilience. We have each other and a beautiful community of people around us who intentionally choose love, kindness, and generosity time and time again. Thus makes children feel *chosen* when they have felt a deep sense of feeling intentionally unchosen. We breathe in the kindness given to us and feel blessed.
It has not been an easy road. Right now, we would love dependable court ordered child support, but I have figured out how to make life work. I appreciate the community who have so sweetly pitched in while we do big things! I promised my kids I would do whatever I needed to so that they’d not go without because of adult’s choices that affect them. I am so happy to say I’ve been mostly able to do that. Finding an activity for my three younger ones has been a real challenge. And forget taking a vacation just for the sake of taking a break! We double dip and make a hotel pool the highlight of a trip while traveling for sports.
We are currently dealing with my oldest having a knee injury and taking him out of lacrosse for at least 9 months. We appreciate prayers and encouragement that he will be back at it!
Too long didn’t read – the biggest struggle is being a solo parent with zero steady support, but also being a capable woman who will hustle to make everything work. I feel like I become white noise to the systems who are charged with helping, while being held firmly responsible for cleaning up any mess left in my path. I will clean up messes, but it’s time people take accountability for some of them, too.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have an undergrad degree in Special Education and Rehabilitation with focus in Deaf Studies and emphasis on Educational Sign Language Interpreting. That’s the long way to say my undergrad degree is in educational sign language interpreting. My master’s degree is in Interpreting Studies with an emphasis on teaching. I have been interpreting since 2007 in schools, colleges, businesses, hospitals, mental health facilities, church, and theaters. I taught in a very strong university program for several years before I moved here to Georgia, but now that I am here I am back to practicing and closed the chapter on being an educator. Now, my focus is finding some way to balance to demands of a highly specialized job with the needs of my highly special kids 😉
My specialities in my career are post secondary settings, theatre, and mental health. Since being here in Savannah, I am surprised at the lack of education around access and the resistance to it. My dream for Savannah is for the theatres to have Open Access Nights, where every show that runs will have one set that where access is always provided, whether or not Deaf folks come. A sign language accessible show adds more than just access to Deaf patrons – it shines a light on what access is, invites a marginalized group of folks who normally have to ask special permission just to be in attendance, and truly it is a craft. Performing translations that artistically capture the work that the impressive artists put into it is such a fun process. This is where I fully geek out.
My work from photography has dropped off but I am plenty (overly) busy with all the other things. Providing access between the Deaf community and the hearing world, being a mom to five busy kids, and advocating for them fills my whole cup.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was – a nerd, I guess. I grew up on my Granddad’s farm in Yuma, Arizona. I fed cows, ran around citrus trees, made forts in hay stacks, and ran through alfalfa fields. Granddad and Grandma made my childhood enchanted, and my chosen last name I gave myself in 2024 is their last name because of it.
I was a good student and probably awkward. I was serious about my violin and being in orchestra, and probably was too hypervigilant about school work. I was – boring 🙂 I didn’t rebel, I didn’t cause a fuss, and I ran around rather free.
People likely remember me as those things – good student, musical, and artistic. My roles and a mom and sign language interpreter really do include skills I learned from my childhood although I don’t actively play music or do art on the regular.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: GiveSarahCoffee
