Thursday, we had met with our people from Los Alamos and received a new project. It wasn’t a secret one like the last one, but one for NASA.

Later that evening, as I ate dinner by myself, Amy was working, I found the first publication of the legal notices of our name changes. Dr. Joe and his wife, Mary, were going home for a week, and it was because Mary’s grandmother wasn’t well. So I’d gone to the hogan, lit a fire, and meditated. Would it do any good? Time would tell.

Friday, we’d gone to the resort early. As we parked by the house, Naainish’s pickup truck was there. And I had a bad feeling. When we walked into the house, we got the fifth degree from my aunt over the reason for us changing our names. Then we found out why I’d had a bad feeling. Mr. Yazzie, our friend, the silversmith in Taos and Naainish’s uncle was dying.

Ajie, Naainish, and I had taken a trip to Taos to see Mr. Yazzie. Making this trip was exceptionally hard on me. I considered Mr. Yazzie as one of my best friends out here. He passed while I was holding his hand and talking to him. I’d felt his spirit leave him. Talk about tearing your heart out. Then I’d helped his one granddaughter accept his passing.

When we were back at the resort, a good soak in a thermal pool followed by a massage helped. Then at the barbecue, we’d met two high school history teachers, and we got talking about the lies that are taught about the native people and how they were treated. And they made the mistake of getting me on my soapbox about Kit Carson.

After Ajie and I had meditated at the bonfire, we came away with a feeling of hózhó. Which simply put means to be in balance and beauty with the world.

Friday evening at the resort, as Ajie and I were cuddled together in bed, I said, “You know, this has happened to us before.”

“What’s that?”, Ajie asked.

“A death and birth. Mr. Yazzie dies. Little Tony is born.”

“It’s life.”

“I know, Miss Logical.”

“Miss Logical?”

“You always see everything in a logical way.”

“Is that wrong?”

“Not at all. At least one of us sees things that way.”

“Love, you have more common sense in your little finger than I have in my whole body.”, Ajie said. “And are very logical.”

“But, you are a very logical person in your own right.”, I replied.

“Will you shut up and make love to me.”

Saturday morning, we were up early and dressed. Dressed in hiking gear, not our usual long skirts, and blouses. As we walked into the kitchen, my aunt saw us and asked, “Good morning. You off on a hike.”

“Good morning, Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “Yes, we thought that we’d watch the Sunrise and then hike a trail.”

“Should I wait breakfast for you?”

“No, we’ll grab something in the restaurant after our hike.”

“Don’t forget to take water.”

“We won’t. Our water bottles and everything else is in the car.”

Ajie and I ran out to the car and retrieved our water bottles, hats, and hiking staffs. And after filling our water bottles in the kitchen, I said, “Aunt Ruth, Ajie’s brother Bill and his girlfriend Bridget will be here next weekend. And we were thinking of bringing them up here for the barbecue, and maybe spending the night and then going to the dance competition in Santa Fe on Saturday. It should be fun for them. Any problem with them staying Friday and maybe Saturday night?”

“Of course not, honey.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Is this the girl from Scotland?”

“Yes.”

“That should be fun for her. Will they need two rooms?”

“I don’t think so.”, Ajie said. “We know that she was staying at my parents during quarter breaks. And they spent six weeks together in Scotland, and if Kai’s right, they may be married when they come back.”

“Oh. Couldn’t wait until they were out of college.”

“It’s hard. And doesn’t it sound like someone that you know?”

“Yes. The two of you. But why Scotland and not here.”

“All her close girlfriends are there.”

“I see.”

We just grinned, and as we walked out the door, I said, “See you a little later, Aunt Ruth.”

“Be careful, kids.”

“We will.”

Once we made it to the clifftop, we were greeted by a dozen of the resort’s guests. We didn’t see Donna or Mary, the two teachers, right away. But, it wasn’t long until they joined us, and after we’d said good morning to each other, Mary said, “We almost didn’t recognize you. You’re dressed so differently than last night.”

“We’re going for a hike before breakfast, so we dressed for it.”, I said.

“Yes, you did. We’re leaving right after lunch and going to spend the night in Gallup and then meet your aunt Sunday morning at a place called the Window Rock Tribal Park.”

That’s an interesting place.”, Ajie said.

“Do you know how to get to the park.”, I asked.

“Yes, your aunt was amazing.”, Donna said. “After she called your other aunt, she helped us change our reservations at the Grand Canyon, and she made the reservation at the motel in Gallup. Then your uncle marked on a road map how to get to Gallup then to Window Rock and then to the Grand Canyon.”

“That sounds like something my aunt and uncle would do.”

Just then, we heard something, and one of the other guests say, “What was that?”

I said, “That was a wolf. And if we’re lucky, we’ll get to see them just before Sunrise.”

Ajie then pointed and said, “They should be right out that way.”

And it wasn’t long until someone pointed and said, “Is that them?”

I looked to where he was pointing and said, “Yes. Wolves are a pack animal and travel together in a line just like they’re doing. If they were hunting, they’d be spread out.”

We watched them until they disappeared behind some rocks. Then we watched the Sunrise. A very nice Sunrise. Yellow, golds, and Ajie’s favorites, reds, and pinks. So, I said, “Ajie, it looks like we might have storms later.”

She glared at me and sarcastically said, “Yeah. I know.”

“You don’t believe that old saying.”, Donna asked. “Do you?”

“The sailors did, and so do we.”, I said. “It’s proven correct more than not.”

“I’ll have to remember that.”

After the Sun was up and all the guests had gone back down the cliff trail, Ajie and I took the Tewa Trial. Somehow we’ve never hiked this trail. It’s a loop trail that winds around above the cliff then works its way down to the Bosque River, crosses the old, now new, bridge, past the round barn, and back to the hotel.

As we walked, we talked about maybe taking a drive and finding something that I’d heard about when I was growing up.

When we came off the trail, we went to the restaurant, and they had an excellent breakfast buffet. We then wandered back to the house and found my aunt and uncle in the kitchen, and my aunt asked, “How was your hike?”

“It was good.”, I said. “And there were reds in the Sunrise.”

“I saw those.”, my uncle said. “And they are predicting thunderstorms for tonight.”

I looked at Ajie and smiled. She frowned at me and said, “You are so bad.”

“Honey.”, my aunt said to Ajie, “You still don’t like thunderstorms. Do you?”

“Not really.”, Ajie said.

“So, what are you two going to do today?”

“When I was growing up, I was in the scouts.”, I said. “And I heard that they had a ranch that’s supposed to be someplace in this part of New Mexico. And we might try to find it.”

“It’s over by Cimarron.”, my uncle said. “And it’s a nice drive from here through the mountains.”

“How far is it from here?”

“A little over two hours. Just go into Taos and follow US 64 out of Taos and towards Eagle Nest, then go through Ute Park and into Cimarron. Then take New Mexico 21 south out of Cimarron, and you’re there.”

“You’ve been there?”

“I’ve been past it.”, my uncle said.

“Is there anywhere to eat lunch around there?”, Ajie asked.

“You need to stop at the Saint James Hotel and Restaurant in Cimarron. It’s supposed to be haunted. And there are bullet holes in the ceiling that some believe were put there by Billy the Kid. Plus, the food is good.”

“Sounds like a fun place.”

“You do have a good New Mexico road map. Don’t you.”, my uncle asked.

“Of course.”, I said. “And a good navigator in Ajie.”

“Are we going to change before we go?”, Ajie asked.

“With the way you’re dressed.”, my uncle said. “You’ll fit right in.”

“Let’s refill our water bottles and go.”

After a two hour drive through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, we were in Cimarron, and as we drove south on Route 21, we drove past the St. James Hotel, and it looked like it had been here in the days of Billy the Kid.

A little further south, and we were at the ranch. There’s a plaque outside of what they call the Villa de Philmonte, which looks like a hacienda. The plaque explains that the owner had donated 127,395 acres that included the ranching headquarters, backcountry buildings, and the Villa de Phimonte, which was the family’s mountainside home with its view of the Tooth of Time, to the scouts. We spent some time exploring the area around the villa, and it was interesting.

At the ranch, we’d heard of an interesting museum and the La Posta, a Santa Fe Trail stage stop dating from the 1850s in a town called Rayado that’s just south of the ranch. As we pulled into Rayado, we saw the museum, and it was a Kit Carson Museum. I looked at Ajie, she looked at me, and we headed back to Cimarron.

Back in Cimarron, we went to the St. James Hotel for a late lunch. And there are numerous bullet holes in the ceiling of the dining room, which used to be the saloon. After all, it was the wild west back then.

We took a different route back to the resort, at least it was different when we took Route 39 north out of Eagle Nest and followed it around the north side of the Taos Ski Valley and into Questa where we picked up New Mexico 522. Then to US 64 and back to the resort.

As we walked into the house, my aunt was working on dinner, and she asked, “So, how was your ride?”

“The scenery was amazing and what we saw was very interesting.”, I replied. “That was until we found that museum in Rayado.”

“What museum was that?”

“The Kit Carson Museum.”

“Oh. I forgot about that.”

“That's okay. We went back to Cimarron and the St. James Hotel and had a good meal. And we saw some interesting things in Cimarron and on the way back home.”

“That’s good.”

We changed out of our hiking clothes into our usual long skirts, blouses, and moccasins, and then we helped Aunt Ruth finish dinner. We sat down to one of her great dinners. After we’d finished cleaning up the kitchen, the four of us sat on the patio until just before Sunset.

Later as we were leaving to hike up on to the cliff, I said to Ajie, “We may see the Sunset, and then, with the storms coming, we’d better get off the clifftop.”

“You’re probably right.”, Ajie said.

“You two be careful up there.”, my uncle said.

“Uncle Paul.”, I said. “Seeing one dead body up there is more than enough.”

“I’ll second that.”, Ajie said.

“Chase everyone else down off of there when you come down.”, Uncle Paul said.

“We’ll try.”, I said.

Then we headed up to the cliff, and once we were up there, there were maybe twelve or fifteen quests also up here. Looking to the west, you could see the storm clouds building and the lightning in the cloud tops. But we weren’t hearing the thunder. Yet!

With the storms to the west, the Sunset was amazing. Lots of pretty colors. But within a few minutes of the Sun setting, you could hear the grumbling off to the west.

I loudly said, “I think it’s time to get off the clifftop.”

Some guy said, “They're still a long way off.”

“I’ll tell you something, mister. Just about a year ago, someone else thought the same thing, and we found him dead just about where you’re standing.”

“Oh, your the two girls from the barbecue.”, a woman with the man said.

“Yes, we are. And the management doesn’t want anyone up here during a thunderstorm. And that storm will be here in about ten minutes.

“Come on, Ajie. Let’s go.”, I said.

Ajie and I turned and started down the cliff trail. After about twenty feet, I looked over my shoulder and noticed that everyone was following us. I whisper to Ajie, “It looks like we got their attention.”

“It does.”, Ajie whispered back.

We quickly walked down the trail and into the hotel. And it wasn’t much later that the rain started, lightly at first, then got heavier and heavier. And that was accompanied by lightning. At first the lightning strikes were few and far between, but then the strength of the lightning strikes grew as did their frequency. Ajie stayed close to me.

One close lightning strike took out the power. And there was a little scream from one of the women when the lights went out. Then the guy that had challenged me up on cliff walked up to me and said, “Miss, thank you for encouraging us to get off that cliff. I’ve never seen thunderstorms this strong before.”

“I’m glad that you listened. It seems that thunderstorms appear to be stronger out here.”

And as the desert storms usually do, it was quickly out of the area. Uncle Paul and Aunt Ruth showed up at the front desk of the hotel, and Uncle Paul said, “Sorry everyone. But it could be a couple of hours before we have our electricity back.”

“Is there any dry wood?”, I asked.

“You want to meditate, Kai?”

“No, I just thought that it might be fun to have a bonfire. It may be something to do until the electric is back.”

I saw a few of the guests' nod, yes, and a couple of men even said, “Yes.”

“We got the wood covered before the storm.”, Uncle Paul said. “So, we can have a bonfire.”

We uncovered the wood, got a nice bonfire going, and Ajie started to sing camp songs. And a lot of the guests joined in. So, this turned into a sing-along around the fire. The bonfire had just started to burn down when the lights came back on. And it was apparent that the guests didn't want our little impromptu gathering to end. Some of them hung around until we heard the rumbling of another storm off to the west.

Everyone headed back to the hotel or to where their room was. My aunt, uncle, Ajie, and I headed to the house, and we made just before the second storm arrived. We stayed up until that storm passed, and the electric stayed on.

As Ajie and I were getting ready for bed, Ajie said, “I missed getting a foot massage when the storms came through.”

“But you had a lot of fun at the bonfire.”

“Yeah, it was fun.”

“And I didn’t know that you knew campfire songs.”

“You weren’t the only one that was in scouts when you were younger. And I used to love sitting around a campfire singing and tell stories.”

“Interesting. And now you’ve learned to meditate at a fire.”

“Thanks to you and Naainish.”, Ajie replied.

“And your chanting is also very nice.”, I said.

“That just comes to me. Like it’s something I’ve known how to do for a long time. I don’t know the chants. They just come to me.”

“I’m the same way. They just come out.”

“Now, about this foot massage.”

“Oh, you want one.”

“Uh, huh. If you’d be so kind, dear sir.”

“My lady, your wish is my command.”

It was over an hour later before Ajie and I cuddled together and fell asleep.

Sunday morning, after cleaning up the breakfast dishes for my aunt, Ajie and I headed back home. We made a stop at the grocery store before we made it home. And once in the garage, we put away the jewelry, then took everything else into the house.

Tonight we were having Dr. Joe and Mary over for dinner since they were flying home tomorrow to see Mary’s grandmother, and Chief Tom and Vickie were joining us.

Amy and I started by making homemade guacamole with avocados, onion, mayonnaise, lime juice, and cilantro. And we’d serve that with tortilla chips for an appetizer. For soup, we made a black bean soup, which is black beans, stewed tomatoes, mexicorn, onions, and spices. For the main dish we tossed together chicken quesadillas, there was, of course, chicken, onion, sweet orange peppers, sweet yellow peppers, tortillas, Monterrey jack cheese, and other goodies. For sides, there were refried beans and cilantro-lime rice.

When the doorbell rand, I ran to the front door, opened it, and it was Chief Tom and Vickie, so I said, “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (It is good. Please come in.)”

Chief Tom said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai.” - (Good evening, Kai.)”

Just then, I saw another car pull into the driveway, and I said, “It looks like Dr. Joe, Mary, and the baby are here. Go on in. Amy’s in the kitchen.”

I waited for Dr. Joe, Mary, and the baby to walk up to the door. Dr. Joe was carrying a baby carrier with a sleeping Mark in it. And I quietly greeted them the same way I did Chief Tom and Vickie, with “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’.”

“And that means what?”, Mary whispered.

“It means, it is good. Please come in.”, I whispered.

Then I whispered, “Little Makwa is sure sleeping.”

“Yes.”, Mary whispered. “We fed him just before we left home. So he’ll sleep for a while.”

“Want to put him someplace quiet?”

“Where would be good?”

“Maybe one of the bedrooms.”

“We can try.”

“And we can leave the connecting doors open so we can hear him.”

We placed little Makwa in one of the two small bedrooms and left the doors open. Then Dr. Joe, Mary, and I joined the other three in the kitchen. Ajie and I had set the table earlier. So all that had to be done was set the food on the table when it was ready. So, the six of us stood around the breakfast bar munching on guacamole and tortilla chips.

We had ice tea, sangria, coffee, and water to drink. And when we put the food on the table, we all sat and had a lovely meal. Then Amy and I made fried ice cream for dessert.

And as we were eating the fried ice cream, Chief Tom took a piece of paper out of his pocket, and as he set in in front of me, he said, “We found this in Wednesday’s Navajo Times, care to tell us what this is all about?”

I looked at the paper, and it was something cut out of a newspaper. And it was the legal notice of our proposed name change from the Navajo Times. I looked at Amy and asked, “Didn’t you tell Vickie about what we were doing?”

“I know that we talked about the adoption.”, Amy replied. “But maybe not about the other.”

“We never talked about you changing your name.”, Vickie said.

“Sorry. You being my Dean, I should have.”

“It would have been nice, but not necessary.”

“Yes, it was necessary, you’re also our friends.”

“So, what’s going on?”

“We’ve found that when you adopt a child, that they take your surname.”, Amy replied. “And we both feel that a Navajo child should have a Navajo last name. And Young isn’t a Navajo name.

“So we decided that the child needs to continue their heritage and to do that we decided to change our names legally. And picking our names wasn’t hard.”

“Kai Nez and Ajie Nez. Right?”, Vickie asked.

“Right. Tribal elders gave us those names, and we felt that it should be those.”

Chief Tom and Vickie looked at us for a minute, then Chief Tom said, “I’m happy that you two are a member of the Big Medicine People Clan. And the way you feel about your people makes me proud to know you. And if there is any way that we can help you, please let us know.”

And just then, the seventh member of our party was heard from as a loud cry was heard from the bedroom. Mary got up and went to check on the baby. While she was gone, we told everyone about our silversmith friend, Mr. Yazzie, passing on Friday and what we did.

Dr. Joe said, “I wish you were going with us.”

“Dr. Joe.”, I said. “I could be there, and maybe something would happen, or maybe something wouldn’t. I never know who I can help.”

“I understand that.”

It wasn’t long until Mary came back to join us carrying the little one. I suggested that we go out into the courtyard. And as we were sitting on the couches, Dr. Joe said, “I’m impressed with what your friend did with these coffee tables.”

“So are we.”, I said. “Charlie really surprised us.”

As we talked, the baby started getting restless, and Mary said, “He’s getting hungry. I need to fix him a bottle.”

I reached out and said, “Give him to Aunt Kai.”

Mary smiled and said, “Aunt Kai. That’s cute.”

Then as Mary handed me the baby, she said, “Now Mark, you be good for Auntie Kai.”

Amy had a small smile and a gleam in her eyes.

Little Mark was amazingly quiet for me as I played with him and Mary fixed him a bottle. When Mary came back, she went to take Mark from me, and he got fussy. So Mary gave me the bottle, and I fed him. When he finished his bottle, Mary placed a diaper over my shoulder and showed me how to burp him. After I patted him on his back for a little while, we heard a long “burrrrrp” out of him.

Then I gave him to Mary, and we sat and talked for a while. Finally, Dr. Joe said, “We’d better get going. We have an early flight tomorrow.”

“We’ll get going too.”, Chief Tom said. “And you two, stop keeping secrets from your Chief.”

“Yes, Chief.”, Amy said with a smile.

“And from your Dean.”, Vickie said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

All seven of us walked to the front door, well six of us walked and one was carried. And Dr. Joe just had to pull the doorbell rope. And of course, we heard the bell in the big room ring. I just shook my head.

We all wished Dr. Joe, Mary, and little Mark a safe trip. It’ll be interesting with a baby on the airplane.

Amy and I stood there until they drove away. And as they drove away, Amy asked, “Why didn’t you tell Dr. Joe and Mary that you meditated about Mary’s grandmother?”

“I didn’t want to get their hopes up.”, I said.

“Good thinking. And, you were sure cute with the baby.”

I just smiled and said, “Yeah, and he wanted me to feed him.”

Monday was just Monday. I worked on my circuit. And Amy worked on her textbook. We did hear from Naainish, and there would be a service for Mr. Yazzie at the Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church in Taos on Tuesday at eleven with visitation at the church an hour before.

Ajie and I had to leave early on Tuesday morning to be in Taos by ten. We both had chosen Biil dresses and wrap moccasins. We had our hair in a single braid with the four different color leather strips woven into them that represent the sacred mountains, black, white, turquoise, and yellow. And we’d placed a fancy end wrap at the end of our braids. We wore the matching silver feather earrings that Mr. Yazzie had made, and we’d purchased at Mrs. Benallie's clothing shop. We were going to wear the braided leather headband with the Eagle feathers, but we’d put those on when we were at the church.

Ajie put on the Concho belt that Mr. Yazzie had made and that I’d give her a while ago. I put on the Concho belt that my grandfather had made.

I wore the choker that my two grandfathers made, and Ajie wore the bone choker with the Concho. Ajie loves rings, so she was wearing five, and the set of bracelets that we’d bought from Mr. Yazzie. I only wore two rings and two bracelets.

Right about ten o’clock, we pulled into the parking lot of the Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church in Taos. A small church made of adobe. A man at the entrance to the parking lot asked us if we were going to the cemetery, I said that we were, and he placed a flag with a magnetic base on the roof of the car, and then directed us where to park.

We were about the tenth car in line behind a police car, the hearse, and a limousine. After we’d parked, we put on our braided leather headbands with the Eagle feathers, got out of the car, and walked up to the door of the church. Someone held the door open for us, and we walked in.

We looked around, and Ajie commented, “This is a pretty little church.”

“It is.”, I said. “It’s a shame that we have to see it under these circumstances.”

“It is.”

We saw Mr. Yazzie’s casket at the front of the church in front of the alter. The lid was open. We walked to the casket, I looked down at him, and quietly said a prayer. Then I whispered, “Hágoónee' shik'is. - (See you later my friend.)”

Ajie echoed me with, “Hágoónee' shik'is.”

As we stood there, I felt someone come up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. I glanced over my shoulder, and it was Naainish. And he said, “Kai and Ajie, nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí.” - (Kai and Ajie, it is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

I turned, looked at Naainish, and said, “It is not good, Naainish.”

“Kai Nez, it is good that the people are here to celebrate my uncle. And by you being here, it is even better. Harmony exists with us.”

“I don’t see how it can, Naainish. We have lost a wonderful person.”

“Yes, I know he was a wonderful person. But the Great Spirit called him as he will call all of us. And, Kai Nez, I have seen many more Moons than you have. In time you will see these things too.”

“I don’t know if I want to.”

“Kai Nez, the Great Spirit called you by causing you to be a two spirit person, and then he brought you to us. One day you will understand all of this. But now understand that my uncle has passed as it was his time. And you are here to help someone. You began to help this person to understand, and you need to complete it.”

“Mr. Yazzie’s granddaughter, Johona?”

“Yes, Johona. And it won’t take much.”

I looked over to where the family was, and I saw Johona with Mrs. Yazzie. They were looking at us. Ajie and I walked over to them. I took Mrs. Yazzie’s hand in my one hand and offered my other hand to Johona. She looked at me, I smiled, and she took my hand.

Then still looking at the girl, I said, “Johona, we have lost a wonderful friend, and you have lost a grandfather. You will one day, soon, understand this. You will see how the old Navajo ways help us. Listen to your grandmother. She is wise. Listen to Naainish. He is also wise. Learn from them.”

“Miss … Miss Nez.”, Johona said. “I feel so at ease with you. It feels like I can accept my grandfather’s passing. That prayer you recited to us the night that Grandpa Yazzie passed keeps running through my mind. And I finally see the meaning of the last line, and that’s how I’ll remember Grandpa Yazzie. I’ll never forget him. And I’ll always smile when I think of him.”

“Johona, you have learned a lot in the past few days. Continue to listen to your grandmother and Naainish, and it will all become clear to you.”

I saw Naainish smile. Something he doesn’t do very often.

More people showed up, so Ajie and I wandered away from the family and found a place to sit. After a few minutes, a woman walked over to us and said, “Miss Nez, I’m Sike Yazzie’s daughter, Haloke, and Johona’s mother. And before her grandfather passed, she was on the outside of the old Navajo ways. But, since Sike has passed, and she’s met you, it seems that she’s trying to understand the old ways.”

“Is that good?”, I asked.

“Yes, we feel that she needed to try to learn about the old ways before they’re lost. She doesn’t have to accept them or practice them, but just try to understand them. Her two brothers do, and we’ve always wanted her to.

“Give her time. Things may come to her.”

“We will Miss Nez.”

Haloke walked away, and at eleven o’clock, they closed the casket, and the funeral service started. When the service ended, the casket was moved down the aisle of the church, and everyone followed. We waited as the casket was placed in the hearse, and then those who were going to the cemetery went to their cars.

We followed the hearse and limousine a short distance to the cemetery, and then followed the pallbearers as they carried the casket from the hearse to the grave site. We listened to the priest give a short graveside service. When he finished, Naainish started chanting, and Ajie and I joined him. Then Naainish walked up to the casket, picked up a handful of dirt, and put it on the casket. Ajie and I followed him and did the same thing. Then I looked over at the rest of the family and watched as they all walked over, picked up a hand full of dirt, and placed it on the casket.

As I stood there, I slowly and quietly repeated the Life Must Go On prayer. I know Ajie and Naainish heard me, but I also think some of the family also heard me, especially Johona. She looked at me, smiled, and mouthed, “Thank you.”

I smiled back and nodded, yes.

As Ajie and I walked back to our car, Naainish, Mrs. Yazzie, her daughter, Haloke, and Johona stopped us, and Mrs. Yazzie said, “Miss Nez, I won’t take no for an answer to this. We want the two of you to join us for lunch.”

I looked at Ajie, and she said, “Kai, I think we should go.”

So, I looked at Mrs. Yazzie and said, “We’d be happy to. But on one condition.”

“One condition?”

“That you call me Kai and my cousin Ajie.”

With that, Mrs. Yazzie smiled a little and said, “I’ll be happy to.”

Later as we sat with the people at lunch, Mrs. Yazzie said, “Kai and Ajie, Sike said nothing but good things about the two of and how much fun you had pulling pranks on each other over the price of silver.”

“I know.”, I said. “It’s something that I’ll always remember.”

“Kai, you might also remember that Sike told you that all of your Grandfather Nez’s silver that he had would be yours and Ajie's when he passed.” Then as she handed me a wooden box, she added, “And this is it.”

“We … We can’t accept this.”, I said. “It should go to the family.”

“No, Kai, it’s what he wanted to do, and you know that. And there’s more.”

“More!?”

“Yes.”, Mrs. Yazzie said. “There are some other things in the box that Sike wanted you to have.”

“No. We can’t. It belongs to the family.”

“Kai, it’s what he wanted. He put it in writing.

“Look in the box. The things on top are what your Grandfather Kilchii Nez made. The things underneath those are from him to you and Ajie.”

I looked at Mrs. Yazzie and started crying. She took my hands in hers and said, “Kai, you also need to remember the last line of that prayer, ‘Forget not. Remember with a smile.’”

I looked at Mrs. Yazzie, stopped crying, wiped the tears away, and gave her a little smile.

Then I opened the box and removed each individually wrapped piece of my Grandfather Kilchii’s silver jewelry that I knew that Mr. Yazzie had. And as I always do, I looked at the maker’s mark. And I said for everyone to hear, “Thank you. This means so much to Ajie and me. For those of you that don’t know, these pieces were made by my Great-Great-Grandfather Kilchii Nez. And Mr. Yazzie had collect them. And he had told me that when his time came that he’d see that we received them.”

Then I started looking at what else was in the box. I first unwrapped two identical rings with turquoise inlays. Then there were two bracelets, not identical, but both very pretty, and there were two pairs of identical earrings. Then I unwrapped a gorgeous squash blossom necklace. All of these had Mr. Yazzie’s maker’s mark on them.

As I looked at the necklace, I said, “No, Mrs. Yazzie, we can’t accept this. It’s too much. This belongs in the family.”

“No, Kai.”, Mrs. Yazzie said. “Sike wanted you to have this.”

I sighed and said, “Okay, Mrs. Yazzie. You win.”

Then I whispered something to Ajie. She looked at me, and I nodded yes. Then I said, “Mrs. Yazzie, this squash blossom is ours. Right”

“Yes, Kai it’s yours and Ajies.”

“Then we can do what we want to with it. Right?”

“Yes, Kai.”

Ajie and I then got up, I picked up the squash blossom necklace, and we walked over to where Mr. Yazzie’s granddaughter, Johona, was sitting. I set the necklace down in front of her, point to something on the necklace, and said, “Johona, see this mark right here?”

“Yes.”, Johona said.”

“That is your grandfather's maker’s mark. It’s on all of the pieces that he’s made.”

Then I pulled the necklace up and around her neck and fastened the clasp.

Johona asked, “What are you doing?”

I said, “Johona, Ajie and I want you to have this necklace to remember your grandfather by. Your grandfather called my Great-Great-Grandfather Kilchii and his father and my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Tse old masters because of the quality of their work in silver.

“And, Johona, I also have to put your grandfather in the class of old masters. His work is amazing and this is one of his best. And you need to have it to remember him by. So, Ajie and I want you to have this necklace.”

Johona jumped up, and we had a three-way hug. While she hugged us, she whispered, “You two are too much. But thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Honey.”, I said. “It’s important to remember our history. And this will help you.”

“Oh, it will. I’ll cherish this forever.”

Ajie and I went back to our seats, and as I started to put things back into the box, Naainish said, “Kai, you missed something.”

“What?”, I asked.

“Look in the box.”

I looked in the box, and there was something small wrapped up in the bottom. I took it out, unwrapped it, looked at it, showed it to Ajie, and said, “Now, this is too much! This is too personal to be given to someone outside the family. Or it belongs in a museum.”

“Kai. Ajie.”, Mrs. Yazzie said. “This is one thing that Sike wanted to be sure that you had. He said that even in a short time that he knew you, that you had the ability to see the beauty and artistry in Navajo silver and enjoy it.

“Plus, he knew that you know the importance of this tool.”

What were we looking at? It was Mr. Yazzie’s maker’s mark tool.

Ajie then said, “Kai, what if we put it in the display case at the resort? Everyone can see it, and it would be under our control.”

“Mrs. Yazzie.”, I said. “We’ll accept it. And it’s going to be put into a display at the resort that my aunt and uncle run. By being in that display, it will be safe and under our control.”

Naainish then said to his aunt, “Aunt Hozhona, it’s a very nice display, and it’s secure. And has some of Kai’s grandfather’s work in it.”

“And I’ll promise you this Mrs. Yazzie.”, I said. “Ajie and I will never sell it. And we’ll never forget any of you.”

We stayed until the lunch broke up and walked out to the parking lot of the restaurant with everyone, said hágoónee' - (see you later) to everyone, and headed to Albuquerque and home.

After we’d driven a little way, I said, “I’d like to stop and see the Eagles, but I think we’re too dressed up for that.”

“We are.”, Ajie said. “We could always go for a walk along the river after dinner.”

“That’s a thought.

And after dinner, we did go for a walk along the river. We walked about a mile upriver and sat at the bench that was across the river from the island with a dead tree on it. We’d been sitting there for about five minutes when we were surprised to see one of the immature Eagles fly in and land on the dead tree. Then within a minute, he or she was joined by both of the adult Eagles. But the other two immature Eagles didn’t show.