50 years!! How can it be. Where did Fifty years ago? 1968-2018 this is my 50th year on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Come to walk with me down memory lane. I met a shy people with even shyer children. Most spoke only Navajo. They quietly shared their food with me and let me cuddle their babies. The young mothers taught me how to communicate with them through smiles and sign language. I learned how to tell time by the shadow of the sun on the smoke hole. They also taught me with a frown. One day a sheep liver was being cooked outside. The fire was very hot. I poked a piece of meat with a long stick. I was hungry and not thinking. Then I remembered, it is a fearful thing to point or poke in any way at anything. That could bring evil into the camp or even death. I hung my head in shame and stayed hungry. Even today at school a pencil is given sideways not pointed at the student. Over the years you and I have made education possible. Children are in school and they are looking forward to their dreams. They want to attend college, be a math teacher, a soldier in the military, doctor, truck driver or nurse. One small girl said, “I want to be like Sylvia, she gives kids stuff and makes children happy”. Yes, I look back and realize looking forward is good, it’s healthy. Remember the past, it’s a teacher. Learn the lesson and go forward. The Navajo people have taught me many things, most of all to grow and accept what I could not change. They have been very patient with me. Ahee hee (Thank you) to my Navajo people. Still on the trails with your help and prayers. Indian Mobile Mission.
Indian Mobile Mission 