Thought for the Day - April 27

Subject: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Peter T.
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 05:37 PM

I am away most of tomorrow, so this is early --

Yesterday I heard in a roundabout way that Andy Johnson (not his real name) was dead. It brought back so much to me that I felt that there was something worth saying here, if depressing.

Many years ago, when I was a teenager, I went to work in Canada's Northwest Territories as a laborer for the summers, unloading trains and loading up barges at a place called Hay River for the restocking of communities up the Mackenzie River into the Arctic. We worked with young Slavey indians (the tribes around Great Slave Lake), who were the last hired, first fired, drunk a lot, but also great fun, fine, handsome young men who, when they decided to work, shamed us all with what they could do, nonstop for days on end, laughing, pouring on the work.

Late in one summer, one of them was drowned in the local river, while drinking, and the whole tribe came down and camped by the riverside until his body was dredged up. It was Andy's brother.

20 years later, I was walking down a street in Toronto, and as often happens, I was accosted by an Indian, who was mostly drunk, wanting money. I was brushing by, when I stopped, horrified, to see that it was Andy -- much older, sunburned, nose in disrepair, most of his teeth beaten out of him, in bad shape. I stopped, and after some time, he recognized me, and we went and had coffee, and he told me one or two of the terrible things that had happened to him, and how he was in Toronto "just looking around". At the end of it, I went to my bank and got out some money, and gave it to him. I never saw him again. It turned out, by accident, a couple of years later, that I got to know an Ojibway artist who knew his sister. So that was how I found out he had died miserably over the winter up North.

I tell this because of the pity of what is still happening to young Native men in Canada. I tell it because it reminds me of how undeservedly lucky I have been in life: he was my age. I tell it because it reminds me of a summer when I was nineteen, and when he was nineteen and so beautiful that the women could barely look at him.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Allan C.
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 05:53 PM

A loss is felt when someone dies. It is felt more when it is someone you know; even more than that if they are related. But there is something unique about the death of someone you know who is your same age. I know that when it happened to me, I became aware, for the first time, of how easily death might have come to me instead.

I used to work in hospitals. Never were nursing staff members more emotionally involved with a seriously ill patient than when the patient was of a similar age.

I have come to realize that we can never know when our physical abilities or even our lives might be taken from us. This is why I feel it is so very important to make the best use of what we have right now.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 06:10 PM

Oh, Peter, that is so sad and so true. It happens here on the Rez, too. My daughter is good friends with one young man, in particular, who tells horror stories of the ravages of poverty, alcohol, and abuse at the hands of authorities.

And, here I was going to gloat about my own son, Colin, turning 30 years old on this day. Hard not to feel some guilt over that blessing.

thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 06:16 PM

Strong people deserve strong mourning by other strong people. The facts are depressing but the vivid recollection of the man, shared, and the mourning of his going from this world, are not.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Jeri
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 06:28 PM

THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE...

Well, sometimes it's fortune, sometimes fortitude.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Peter T.
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 06:35 PM

It can't be guilt, whatever the feeling is, kat. I think we don't have a good name for being thankful for what we have in comparison to the terrible lives others lead. And even if we bear some responsibility. I guess there isn't a right word. Anyway,

Happy birthday, Colin!
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 06:58 PM

Thanks, Peter. I don't think guilt was exactly the right word, either, because I believe so much in our choosing how we come into this life, for the lessons to be learned; but still, it is a sorrow, more than anything, I guess.

Colin just flew off, this morning, on a trip to San Francisco, with my "pseudo" daughter-in-law, to visit friends for this momentous occasion. I'll send along your wishes.:-)

katreallyproudofhersonwhosurvivedateenmom!

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 07:04 PM

Peter I am sorry to hear about your friend. And I am quite sure this sad story will bring much thought to all who read it regarding the problems that young Native men in Canada are still struggling with.

I can identify with Allan C. on how the passing of your friend can have a great impact on you personally. There was a connection between you and this man. Why your life brought you good fortune and his not, or why a beautiful humanbeing's life must fall apart like that? These are not easy questions to answer.
Like Allan was saying, it can be a rude awakening when someone we know, who is our same age passes away.
Living each day meaningfully with deep appreciation is about the best we can do.

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Hyperabid
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 05:02 AM

"In my early days, I was eager to learn and to do things, and therefore I learned quickly. Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit."

"Now that we are poor, we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we die defending our rights."

Tatanka Iyotake - Sitting Bull - 1831 - 1890

Hyp

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: Amos
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 12:53 PM

VISUALIZATION

Ordinary people believe only in the possible.
Extraordinary people visualize
not what is possible or probable,
but rather what is impossible.
And by visualizing the impossible,
they begin to see it as possible.

Cherie Carter-Scott

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 01:04 PM

Call him drunken Ira Hayes, He won't answer anymore..."
"Ballad of Ira Hayes"...(in the DT)

Thanks Peter......

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: GUEST,JenEllen
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 02:31 PM

No one could possibly know what the whirlwind is going to hold for them, the best you can do is to meet it head on with dignity and grace. Thanks Peter, ~Elle

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: BlueJay
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 02:59 PM

The only single word I can think of that would sum it up is: griefshockandawareness. Maybe some other language has an equivalent? BlueJay

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - April 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 04:54 PM

Mitakuye Oyasin...we are all related