| "You know, Mom, there are some
things' one, can only tell a Native American Mother?"
"Yes, what is it?" Her mother
was her usual interested self.
"Well, the other night Sister called
me." "It was a little late but sometimes she calls after the
children are settled and in bed." "She asked me if I would run
over." "She said Tabitha had been sick for two days."
"Her fever was down and Sister said she was exhausted."
"You know how close she is to those children."
When I went over she handed Tabitha to
me, went in, to the bed, and all but fell on it." "She was
just totally asleep in minutes."
"Tabitha sat at the table with her
coloring book and crayons." "She was wide awake, so we
played." "She kept turning to someone on the other side of her
to visit with them." "She would share her colors with
them." "She pushed her coloring book toward them so she could
color one half the page and they the other half." "All this
time there was no one there."
"I remembered how you said one
should reprimand those spirits who cross over, for doing so."
"I said to whoever, or whatever was
there." "You just go on now." "We don't need you
here." "You are in the wrong place."
"No sooner did I say this, when Tabatha
jumped down from the table like she was running after someone."
"In the middle of the floor she suddenly stopped." "While
seeming to look a little up toward them, she all at once backed up three
or four steps." "It appeared that someone was walking toward
her." "Then she began to chase them again." "She
stood holding her hands on the glass of the door while she looked
out."
"While she was doing this, the dog
was yapping and running like he was nipping at someone's heels."
"All the while there was no one there."
"When Sister awoke, I told her what
happened." "We talked about it quite a bit." "She
wanted to know what I thought about it." "You know Sister, her
geology science thing."
"Oh yes." "Well." The
Indian woman was non-committal also. "Some of her personality has
to do with education." "However, there is a lot that is just
the way she is." "She wants to know the whole story."
"She has been that methodical since she was a baby." "She
talked like a lawyer before she went to school."
With that statement the two women laughed
as they enjoyed the gentle little woman's ways who was a sister to one
and a daughter to the other. They both were deep into their own thoughts
about her.
The daughter broke the silence. "I
was a little surprised when Sister called me the next day to tell me she
had told the doctor."
"I don't know why that surprises
you." "You know she was going to find out all she could when
it comes to one of her grandchildren." "It is like she has
each one labeled like one of those test tubes in a lab." "This
one has these properties." "This one is for this."
"That one will do this."
Again they both had to chuckle about the
personality they both loved so much. Her sister could see the busy
little woman in her mind. It was a fact the prissy, little, dainty
woman, who had always looked to every part of her wardrobe with a
fastidious place had over the last two years barely left her sweat suit
off. She was so involved with the care of the grand children there
seemed literally no time for her usual feminine regimen.
"Well, anyway, she told the
doctor." "He took the time out from his busy schedule to
explain to her that Tabatha was all right." "He told her that
sometimes bright children do have imaginary play mates." "This
time though, he thought it probably, had something to do with the
medicine." "He said sometimes it does cause children to
hallucinate."
Everyone who knew her mother had the
experience with the woman's quick thinking and equally quick response.
Sometimes, it was easy to accept her judgement and sometimes not so
easy. She had at one time been offered a position in the Indian courts
as a judge. If she had the heart for it, she certainly would have done
an excellent job. She had a gift and a talent for seeing through a
matter as to the reality of the thing. No matter how sure one was of
their position she could always bring out the truth of the
circumstances. There were times when she only had her wit and her
ability to call these facts to the attention of those in positions of
decision making. This ability had always served her well in the role she
had to often play as interpreter between someone of her Indian family
and someone or other circumstance or position in which they found
themselves.
The older woman offered this quick
response to her daughter.
"Was the dog taking medication
too?" |
