Wednesday, April 30, 2008

These Are My Relatives

When my oldest daughter Ricki Joy was dying from cancer, we were in the town of Mankato, Minnesota. Mankato is on the Southern border of Minnesota. The Minister of that hospital asked me if I would like a Minister of one of the churches to come and pray and give last rights. I said no. We are Native American. If you can find a Holy Man or Medicine Man that would be good. That Minister got the Holy Man from Pine Ridge Reservation to drive from the Dakota's to Mankato to Saint Joesph's Hospital.

I remember how calm he made us feel and there was such a peacefulness as we placed sage in the 4 corners of her hospital room. We hung medicine bags from her bed. We made over a hundred prayer ties of colors of the 4 great Nations of man. We filled the prayer ties with tobacco and then they were placed around Ricki Joy. We held hands and he started to pray. It was beautiful. Her death was beautiful. She gave up peacefully and before her last breath she looked at me. I was standing at the right side of her head, with my hand on her bald head and she mouthed the words "I love you." And she died.

Some parents never even get to say good-bye. This war, these children fighting it, some of them never get to say good-bye or I love you one last time. I was truly blessed that I could in a beautiful way.

I've added Ricki's Page to the side bar. It is a page I created in her memory.

With that I leave you this video of Pine Ridge...





7 comments:

Nit Wit said...

That's buetifull and so is Ricki's page. I don't know how you and you family have endured all the hardships that have been visited on you. It makes me wonder if as I have thought before , being and doing good just makes you a target of ill fate.
Looking forward to the swelling...

yellowdoggranny said...

ditto what nitwit said...
you are so strong and so brave and i would give up my own tata's for you to not have to go thru this...can't wait to see bruce's new toys...
i love you..js

tsduff said...

Thank you for the haunting video - the music was amazing. It makes me so sad to understand the people on the res have to live. It is so wrong.

I revisited Ricki's page and cried again. hugs.

Janis Bland said...

What can I possibly say that the other did not? I ache for you -- an ache of pain, an ache of joy.

Bless you!

sageweb said...

Ditto on what everyone said. You are such a wonderful person. Hope everything is going well.

Mouthy Girl said...

What a beautiful way to have spent the last moments with your baby. I'm so glad that someone was able to get the Medicine Man to help with saying goodbye.

mckait said...

It is a beautiful page, just beautiful. I am glad they found a Holy Man to help you help her cross...it does sound so lovely...
(((((you))))... and so hard.