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Old towels in my house are tattered and grey and need to be made into
rags. White sales are coming up so that's a bonus deal. I remember when I
was a kid and worked for a doctor's family. They owned a two-story mansion
with suites of rooms. The linen closet was on the second floor. That room
was about the size of one of my children's rooms in this house. Stacked in
great numbers were sheets and towels. When I worked in the boarding school
at the Chilocco laundry I was made aware that there were so many sheets
for beds but this for one family was a bit of an awakening. As I worked
for them, the only servant on the premises, I realized what a tremendous
amount of work it was to keep this part of the household functioning. I
don't know why I was so dedicated they didn't really seem to care a whole
lot. Each one was into their own world whether the country club or dating,
shopping, working or other pursuits. The house was just sort of handed
down, in place thing, left to them by their father who was a doctor, too.
The only bed I had to make up for them was in the doctors room. The lady
and the girls were responsible for their own. On occasion when the girls
didn't make their beds for a week at a time the lady would have somehow
missed what they were doing so I would make them up when I changed the
linens.
Today, I'll watch for the white sales of January and that's enough to
make me happy. Could this be considered a resolution? I'm sure it has
nothing to do with greater thoughts of working on one's weaknesses through
self-control, but I never am able to achieve that anyway. This one weak
plan will have to do and that is of taking care of the not so demanding,
on the other hand, necessary.
The storage room full of fabric seems to elude me as well. Part of the
tradition of my Indian family includes “give-aways” which are always
accompanied by fabric or material. I think it is more symbolic in
speaking than anything else but somewhere in the annals of time the true
meaning is lost. Really it has something to do with sacrifice of one's
material things, giving up something you love and cherish to honor the
accomplishments or bereavement, whichever it might be, of someone else. It
is a kind of discipline away from selfishness.
Collecting fabric as I find it on sale or where it is available makes
for just that, a collection. What should be done is to organize sizes and
pieces into readily available parcels which can quickly be picked up for
when there is a death. One person doesn't need to give great amounts but
if everyone brings a few things to the person in charge of their own give
away then the load isn't so heavy on anyone. This part of the culture has
dwindled down to a place where everyone just runs out to Wal-mart to,
quick, buy little gifts. Whatever! This, though, really has nothing to
do with the original meaning of the practice and that was one of
dispersing one's personal belongings out to someone else to enjoy and is
sort of like sharing good vibrations, as the hippy would say. Again,
would this be a resolution of sorts?
The entry of Christian values into Native American' lives, causes
the practice to be frowned upon by one or another religion so, we just
can't seem to please everyone. Can I resolve to hold to what is good and
be wise enough to know what isn't? Is that a resolution?
One young person said, “I'd like to go back to the old ways, but I
don't know what they are.” He told it as a joke and I laughed but I
suppose it really isn't funny. |
