The Chief Nastas Todachine Memorial Scholarship was finally a go.

Today, Saturday, we had some fun when all the bride maids in Kelly’s wedding came to town for dress fittings. And Tammy went along. Of course, only Amy, Kelly, and Maria knew that Tammy wasn’t a real girl. It appeared that Kelly and Maria were a little nervous undressing in front of Tammy. But a talk afterward seems to have gotten them to understand who Tammy is. Maybe.

And now the crew was coming over for frybread tacos. And lessons on how to make frybread. So after Amy and I were back home, Tammy became Kai. A blond Kai. Well, we need a Southwestern girl to make a Southwestern meal. Don’t we?

Just before five in the afternoon, the whole crew was in the kitchen, and my mom and dad stopped on their way out. There were the usual greetings, and when my dad found out what we were going to be making, he said, “We’re not going. I don’t want to miss a good frybread taco.”

“Chuck.”, my mother said. “You have to go. You’re presenting the award.”

“I know. I know.”

“Daddy.”, I said. “Don’t worry. We’ll make them again soon.”

“Can we come back then too?”, Larry asked.

“Larry!”, Kelly said. “Once we learn how we can make our own.”

“Larry.”, my mother said. “And all of you. You’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Young.”, Kelly said. “We don’t want to become pests.”

“Don’t worry, honey. We like your company. And I know that Tom and Amy do too.”

With a smile, I looked at my mom, and asked, “Mom, who’s this Tom person?”

My mom frowned, and said, “Sorry, honey. I meant Kai and Amy.”

“You know, Kai.”, Larry said. “Having grown up with you. Accepting your girl side was easy. But a big surprise when I first found out about Tammy. And Kai seems to be even more of a girl than Tammy.”

As I rubbed my jaw remembering when Larry had decked me, I said, “I remember very well when you found out about Tammy.”

That brought some laughs from everyone else. And Larry said, “I figured that you’d forgotten about that.”

“Slim chance of that.”

My mom and dad left, and Amy and I then went on to give the crew a lesson in making frybread tacos. And we had a feast. And I’m glad that there were six of us here to clean up. Then we headed over to an ice cream parlor for dessert.

The following week of classes went great, and Friday was a short day at school for both of us, and we were home just after Noon. As we walked into the kitchen my mother was there, and she said, “Amy, there’s was a large envelope in the mail for you, and it’s on the kitchen table.”

“Who’s it from?”, Amy asked

“Someone called Rosemary.”

“Rosemary!”, Amy almost screamed. “From England?”

“Yes, honey. Rosemary from England.”

Amy almost ran over to the table, picked up the envelope, looked at it, and said “Wow. Cool stamps.”

“Well open it.”, I said.

“I’m … I’m kind of afraid to.”

“Why?”

“What if she did have any information on my sailor and Indian girl.”

“As thick as that envelope is, I’ll bet she did.”

Remember I said two really fun things happened this quarter? The following was the second one.

Amy carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. The top page appeared to be a letter. She glanced at it, and then read it. At one point, she said, “Oh my God!”

“What?”, I asked.

“She, I mean Rosemary, has some information on the sailor and the Indian girl.”

“Are you going to share?”

“Yeah. In a minute. Let me finish reading it.”

Amy finished reading the letter, and said, “Okay. Rosemary said, that she was happy to hear from me and that they knew about my marriage to Thomas, but didn’t know much about it.”

“Thomas.”, I asked. “Who’s this Thomas?”

“You are, silly. Now let me finish.

“She went on to say that she has done a lot of research on the family and did find a grandfather, a fourth great grandfather, that had married an Indian girl from, as Rosemary puts it, the Colonies. She says that our grandfather worked for one of the better shipping companies, and started as a cabin boy on a sailing ship when he was nine. He worked his way up until he was the ships second officer by the time he was twenty.

“On his many trips between England and the Colonies, he had time, when he was in the Colonies, to explore. And he’d made friends with someone that was a member of a local Indian tribe. He became close friends with this person. And every time that my grandfather was in the Colonies, he learned more about the tribe and eventually learned to speak their language.

“He visited their village many times, and on one of those visits, he became smitten, that’s Rosemary’s word, by a young girl. Even though they were apart when he sailed back to England, they always got back together when he was back. He helped her learn English. And they fell in love.

“They were first married following the tribe's way. Then he took her back to England, and at first, it was hard on her. But his family quickly accepted her, and they were remarried again in England.

“They had five boys and three girls. And one of those boys is my third great-grandfather.”

“So you do have some Indian blood.”, I said.

“Uh huh.”, Amy replied.

“That is so cool.”

“I know.”

“Does Rosemary mention what tribe the girl was from?”

“No, she didn’t. Maybe she doesn’t know.”

“Ask her when you write back.”

“I will.”

“So what was her husband's name?”

“Oh. It was Richard Timothy Hancocke. With an e.

“Then Rosemary goes on to say that she knows nothing about the girl other than her native name was Weetamoo. But everyone in England called her Willow. And she had no last name. So maybe Rosemary doesn’t know her tribe.”

“It probably wouldn't hurt to ask.”, my mother said.

“I’ll ask.”, Amy said. “Rosemary went on to say that she’d enclosed some charts that show my lineage as far back as she’s been able to find. She’d also like to know more about you and your family, and my dad’s family. So she sent a bunch of forms.”

“You’re excited. Aren’t you?”

“You know it. I wonder if my mother is home.”

“Call her.”

As Amy called her mom, my mother said, “You know Tom. It’s interesting that Amy had the dreams about the couple and now has found out that they existed.”

“I know mom.”, I replied. “She’s been so worried that Rosemary wouldn’t have any information or she wouldn’t write back. But now she’s happy.”

“That’s good.”

Half an hour later Amy and I were sitting with her mother, and going over everything that Rosemary had sent. Amy’s mother was almost as excited as Amy was, and her biggest question was why didn’t Weetamoo or Willow have a last name?

Amy explained that back in that time the Indians had used their clan name and it could be a little complicated.

We started looking back through, what Rosemary called, family group charts. When we got to the one for Richard Hancocke and Weetamoo or Willow, we carefully looked at it. Richard’s full name was Richard Timothy Hancocke. And Weetamoo had an asterisk by her name, and a notation that said, ‘American Indian.’ And at the bottom of the page was an asterisk followed by ‘sweet heart.’ Amy said, “I wonder if that’s what Weetamoo means?”

The chart also listed all of their children, Richard, Susanna, Timothy, Edward Timothy, Humility Willow, Desire, Christopher, and William Richard. There was a note that Humility and Desire were twins. Edward was Amy’s direct line.

We continued looking at everything, and I saw a note that mentioned Pauquunaukit in with Weetamoo. And I said, “I wonder what Pauquunaukit has to do with this.”

“Don’t know.”, Amy said. “Maybe it’s something to do with where Weetamoo came from or her clan.”

When we were back at my house, my mother asked, “Amy, what did your mother think.”

I answered for her, when I said, “She was almost as excited as Amy was.”

“You would have been excited too if you’d found out something about your ancestors.”

“I was when we found out about my Great-Great-Grandfather Kilchii Nez.”

“Yes, you were.”, Amy said, “And so was I.”

“I know you were. And I’m excited for you too. Finding out this kind of thing is fun. I wonder where Pauquunaukit fits in?”

Mom said, “Go look in the encyclopedias. And if that doesn’t tell you anything use the university library.”

Amy and I went to the den and started looking through the encyclopedia. Finally, Amy found something, and she said, “All it mentions is that the Pauquunaukit Wampanoag were Indians from what is now Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It also says, that in 1620 the Wampanoag Indians befriended the Pilgrims. But later were poorly treated by the British who stole their land from them.”

“Figures.”, I said.

“When I write Rosemary I’d better tell her about this too.”

We told my mother what we’d found, and she said that it sounded fascinating. And Amy said, “I want to find out more about the Wampanoag people.”

And I said, “I still want to know why I couldn’t feel that you have Indian blood even though it isn’t much.”

“Honey, I wish I knew. And I’m also wondering about something.”

“What’s that?”

“I wonder if my acceptance of the Navajo people and their acceptance of me was somehow helped by my Indian blood no matter how small it is?”

“Honey.”, my mother started to say. “The spirits move ... "

Both Amy and I finished her thought for her when we said, “ … in strange ways.”

We had a chuckle over us finishing her thought.

Rosemary had asked for information about my family, and Amy’s dad’s family. Amy found a note card and wrote Rosemary a note thanking her for all the information. She also told her what we’d figured out about Weetamoo. And that we would send along the other information that she requested as soon as we could. And she signed it, Love Amy and Tom Young.

So, we had another trip to the post office tomorrow.

Over the next week, we researched and filled out forms on the family. My Aunt Ginny’s research on the Nez family helped with that part. My dad had some information, but with grandma and grandpa Young gone, his memory was stretched. But we did the best we could. My mother remembered an old family bible. She went and found it, and we looked through it, and there were notes on births, deaths, and marriages in my dad’s family. So we were able to fill in some more information on my dad’s family.

Amy’s mom came through with information on Amy’s dad’s family. So on Saturday, we made another trip to the post office.

It still bothered me that I wasn’t able to see that Amy had Indian blood. Why couldn’t I see it?

The rest of the quarter went well. The big talk among the crew was Kelly and Larry’s wedding, which was quickly approaching. Amy was elected vice-president of the local chapter of the nurse’s honorary society. And Amy found out that she had received the full ride scholarship for her masters. She also got a letter back from Rosemary thanking her for all the information, and saying that she had found the information on the Wampanoag Indians very interesting.

Of course, there were the get-togethers with the crew. And going shopping, yep Tammy went shopping with Amy, Maria, and Kelly. And that could be crazy, turning the four of us loose.

Then just before Thanksgiving, the six of us went back to the bowling alley for the first time since that guy died. When we walked in the manager recognized us, and said, “I haven’t seen you guys since the day that the guy hit the light pole.”

“I know.”, I replied. “It was a little traumatic. And we just couldn’t come back here.”

“The six of you can bowl for free tonight.”

“Thank you. But, that’s not necessary.”

“Let's say it’s my way of saying thank you for what you did that night.”

We accepted his offer and started bowling.

After we’d finished our three games, Amy said, “Let’s get out of here and get some ice cream.”

When we were back home, and getting ready for bed, Amy got amorous. And as she was nibbling on my ear, she whispered, “Be Kai for me.”

“Why?”, I asked.

“Because I love the way she makes love.”

“Really?”

“Uh huh.”

“Want me to be Kai all the time?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I need my Tommy too.”

I picked her up and threw her on the bed, and …

A few weeks later the quarter ended, and the Kelly and Larry’s wedding was only a week away. Kelly and Larry went over to Kelly’s hometown right after classes were over. I just hoped that Larry wasn’t going to have to spend the nights in one of Kelly’s brother’s rooms. And Maria, Mark, Amy, and I are going over on the Thursday before the wedding.

Since we were bringing all the dresses including Kelly’s wedding dress, we drove over in my parent's station wagon. We also had all of the girl’s headpieces. Plus Larry’s, Mark’s, and my tuxedos. My parents were driving over on Friday in my ‘57 Chevy. Guess what I was going to drive Larry to the church in?

We arrived in Muncie, Indiana at lunchtime, and I asked Mark, “Want to try a ginger ale milkshake?”

“Sure.”, Mark replied.

So we stopped at the drive-in where we’d gotten the ginger ale milkshakes for lunch. It was cold out, so I had to keep the car running to keep the girls warm. Then we headed to the hotel where we were staying. After we’d checked in and had taken our things to our rooms, we took all the dresses up to our room, except for Kelly’s wedding dress and that we were taking to Kelly’s parent's house.

The four of us then drove out to Kelly’s parent's house, and as we drove up the drive, Maria asked, “This is Kelly’s house!?”

“Yeah.”, I said.

“It’s big enough.”

“I thought so too.”

We pulled up in front of the house, parked, got out, and walked up the steps. I pushed the doorbell, a short time later Kelly answered the door, and said, “Hi guys. Come on in.”

We walked into the house, there were hugs, and Maria and Mark just looked around. Then we followed Kelly to the kitchen, and her mom was there. Kelly introduced Maria and Mark to her mother.

Then Kelly’s mom walked over to Amy, gave her a big hug, and said, “Amy, I can’t thank you enough for what you did.”

“I didn’t do anything.”, Amy asked.

“Yes, you did. You saw what was wrong with Mr. O’Brian. He’s like a different person now.”

“It was nothing.”

“Honey. I know that Larry’s dad is a police officer and was probably ready to have him arrested after he found out what happened.”

“Mrs. O’Brian, he wasn't happy, but after Larry explained to him what we’d figured out about Mr. O’Brian, he was okay with it.”

“I know, that’s what Kelly and Larry told us. But it’s you that figured it out.”

“I just knew the symptoms and put two and two together.”

“Honey, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Speaking of Larry, where is he?”, I asked.

“Larry, dad, and my brothers are out playing golf.”, Kelly said.

“Larry! Larry is playing golf?”, I said.

“Yes. Well, my dad and brothers are trying to teach him.”

“That’s got to be interesting.”

“They should be back soon. We’d better get my wedding gown upstairs before they get back.”

“What about Larry’s tux?”

“You can keep that at the hotel. Larry will be staying there Friday night.”

I ran outside with Kelly, we got her wedding gown out of the car, and into the house just as a car pulled into the driveway. I carried the gown and followed Kelly upstairs and to a spare bedroom. She had me hang the dress in the closet.

As we were walking out of the bedroom, Kelly looked at me, grinned, and said, “I bet you’d like to wear that gown wouldn’t you?”

“No.”, I said. “That’s your special gown, and no one else should wear it unless it’s your daughter. I have my special gown.”

With a surprised look, Kelly said, “Huh?”

“No one has told you about my faux wedding?”

“Ah. No. You weren’t the bride were you?”

“Of course I was.”

“Who was your groom?”

“Amy.”

“And you wore a wedding gown?”

“Of course. And everything that goes with it. My dad even gave me away.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“I am?”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at anything that you do.”

I grinned, and said, “Well there are somethings I won’t do.”

“Yeah. Like what?”

“I won’t jump out of a perfectly good airplane.”

“But dressing as a bride?”

“I dress like a native girl. I dress like a college coed. So why not dress like a bride. I also did it for the store's brochure.

“And remember there are two spirits in this body and the female one loves pretty things.”

“Come on you. Let’s get downstairs before they think we’re up to something.”

We went back downstairs and to the kitchen. There I met Kelly’s other two brothers, Jack, the priest, and Kelly’s twin-brother Kevin. Then I saw Connor, I looked at him, and asked, “Connor, what happened to you?”

“Hi, Tom.”, Connor said. “I found a helicopter that didn’t like me.”

“Okay. What happened?”

“A week after I’d finished flight school, we were practicing flying in formation when the engine failed. I was able to do a controlled crash. And everyone walked away from it.”

“You don’t look like you walked away from it.”

“I did, but I ended up with a compound fracture of my lower arm and dislocated a shoulder. But I was lucky that all of the guys on my chopper were medics, and none of them got hurt.”

I caught a look from Amy out of the corner of my eye.

Then I said, “I thought I told you to be careful.”

“I tried.”, Connor said. “I tried.”

Then I looked at Larry and said, “Larry, I hear that you play golf like Jack Nicklaus.”

“Yeah right. More like Elmer Fudd.”, Larry said.

Then Mr. O’Brian gave a little coughed and said. “Tom, I’m going to do something in front of my whole family and everyone else that is here that is extremely difficult for me to do.”

“Mr. O’Brian, it isn’t necessary. I understand the problem that you had. And when it happened, it wasn’t you talking.”

“Tom, I still need to apologize to you.”

Mr. O’Brian went on to apologize to me, Amy, and my people. When he finished, we shook hands. Then with a grin, he said, “I still think you need a haircut.”

“Be careful, Mr. O’Brian.”, Amy said. “To a Navajo, their hair is their culture, their memories, and their choice.”

“I see. I guess I need to learn to accept people for who they are.”

“Daddy.”, Kelly said. “Amy and Tom taught me that a long time ago. And what you see on the outside isn’t necessarily what’s on the inside.”

Mrs. O’Brian, with the help of the three girls, served an excellent dinner to the eleven of us. Of course, Kelly’s brother Jack, the priest, said grace. And we had a good time getting to know each other. One thing that I picked up on was that her brother Kevin was the silent type. He hardly said two words all through dinner. And as they say, still waters run deep.

As we were cleaning up after dinner, I caught Kelly and Amy looking at me and whispering.

Then we spent a pleasant evening sitting on the patio talking. As it got dark, I noticed that Amy was star gazing. I whispered, “Looking for another shooting star?”

“Uh huh.”, she whispered back. “At least there’s no city lights out here.”

Then Kelly’s brother, Jack, said, “Tom, I hear that you are a Navajo?”

“Yes.”, I said. “I’m one-fourth Navajo.”

“And you’ve taken to their culture.”

“Yes. We’ve spent some time during the past two years out there and love it. The area and people are wonderful.”

“Do you believe in what they call the Great Spirit and other spirits?”

“Yes.”, I replied. And I didn’t like where this was going, so I added, “And I don’t want to get into a religious discussion right now. It’s one of two things that I don’t like to discuss.”

“I’ll bet the other is politics?”

“You’re right. I find that discussing either religion or politics can lead to trouble.”

“I understand and respect your wishes.”

“Thank you.”