Saturday, Ajie and I had overslept and didn’t get breakfast before we left for the dance competition. When we were finally there and were walking through the vendor area, we stopped at one of the vendors that sells beaded jewelry and pottery, but they happened to have a hair-pipe bone choker with silver for sale. We bought it and took it to Mr. Yazzie. And we found out from him that Kilchii Nez had made part of it. Ajie and I went back to the vendor that we’d purchased the choker from and found that they had a wooden box that they had gotten at an estate sale.

What was in this box?

Then Kelly and Larry had asked us to be the godparents to their baby, who could say no to that. The barbecue went smoothly. No surprise guests. I sat and meditated at the bonfire under a full Moon. And as Naainish had told me, there were no problems with my spirits and the Moon or spirits of the bonfire. I did tell Kelly and Larry that I felt that their son would do some amazing things during his lifetime.

When we were back at the resort, Naainish filled us in on the Eagle feathers. And I filled him, my aunt and uncle, and Maria and Mark in on the Eagles back home. Was this too much information for Mark and Maria.

After we’d finished shopping, we paid a call on Mr. Yazzie the silversmith. It was a surprise, as he didn’t know that Ajie and I were in town. We joked around with him about the two rings that he’d slipped into our goodie bag last year. He’d also shown us a lovely piece of work that my Great-Great-Grandfather Kilchii Nez had done. It was a small silver box with a round turquoise piece in the center of the top.

After we were out of that mess, we finished the drive to Albuquerque. I was so mad at myself for setting the camera bag down that I was ready to put all the jewelry in the safe and weld the safe shut. But calmer heads prevailed, Amy calmed me down. And she suggested that we find someplace to watch a sunset. That place was an hours drive and five-thousand feet higher then we are in Albuquerque. But it was worth the trip. But what was even better was finding a drive-in afterward that served ginger ale milkshakes and great fries. Now if their hamburgers are just as good.

We’d had also found maps of the parks in Albuquerque, and one of the parks had a trail that sounded interesting, and we’d taken a two-and-a-half mile hike on a loop trail. And we found out that we haven’t adjusted to the climate and altitude in the area. Albuquerque is a little over five-thousand feet above sea level, and back home is only about nine-hundred feet.

I said, “Who the heck is here at this hour?”

My mother asked, “Tom, would you answer that please?”

As I got up, I said, “Sure mom.”

The most significant thing that had happened to us is that Amy and I had graduated from college, and she did it as a Summa Cum Laude graduate. I love this girl and I’m so proud of her.

Well, our parents giving us a new car was another big thing that happened.

Today was Monday, April 3, the first day of our final quarter of undergraduate studies. We had a calendar in our bedroom that showed the countdown to two things. The first was the countdown to commencement, and that was at seventy days. The second was the countdown to the day we leave for New Mexico, and that was at eighty days.

Amy and I only had three classes each this quarter, and none of those classes met on Friday. So, in theory, we had three day weekends. But Amy set Friday as her day to study for her test for her registered nurse's license. And that was okay because it was important to her.

Dr. Whitmeyer had come back into our lives again. Dr. Grunewald had sent me a copy of Dr. Whitmeyer paper titled, ‘The Nádleeh. The two spirit people of the Navajo.’ He has promised to write this as part of his apology for what he had tried to do to Dr. Grunewald and Larry at the seminar. Everyone that has read it was happy with what Dr. Whitmeyer had written.

Then Kelly, Larry, Amy, and I had talked about how to get Maria and Mark out to the resort with us for one of the Friday barbecues.

We’d also planned a dinner with the crew to show them the photo album of the fake wedding that Amy and I had, with me as the bride and Amy as the groom. We also decided to surprise them by Tammy dressing like the bride she was that day.

On Friday we had a wedding rehearsal, a rehearsal dinner, and then we decorated the church hall for the reception. Larry didn’t want a bachelor’s party. But the girls went to a bachelorette party set up by Kelly’s cousin Mary Beth who was also the maid of honor. The party had been a bust thanks to a stripper. And there had been some nasty words between Kelly and Mary Beth.

It was possible that Mary Beth wouldn’t show up at the wedding. Who would take her place?

Amy had told me that what she saw with Mr. O’Brian and his nervous breakdown was looking good. But we’d see happens with the wedding. I was keeping my fingers crossed.

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.

Amy had started having a reoccurring dream about an Indian girl and a sailor. They appeared to be lovers, and it was a long time ago. And Amy felt that she knew them or should know them.

We had gotten in touch with Naainish, and Amy had talked to him about the dream. After they hung up, I asked her, “Well. What were his words of wisdom?”

Then, Mr. O’Brian had said, “Oh. So, you’re an Indian.”

“Yes sir, I am.”, I’d replied. “And proud of it!”

“You all should be kept on a reservation.”

We’d run out, and Amy had checked the only occupant. Amy looked at me and said that it didn’t look good. After the cops and fire department where there, we’d come back inside and were talking with our friends.

Then I’d remembered where I knew this guy from, and I said, “Oh my God!”

“What’s wrong, honey.”, Amy asked.

“I just remembered where I knew this guy from.”

And along with some friends Chief Peshlakai was also here. Why?

Chief Kinlicheeny and Naainish had brought him along to apologize for what he’d done at the dance competition. He tried to apologize, but I wasn’t in the mood to accept it. So, instead, I gave him a piece of my mind.

The three of them, Chief Kinlicheeny, Chief Peshlakai, and Naainish, had talked after Ajie, Uncle Paul, and I had walked away from them. And now the three of them were walking towards us.

Naainish had also had an interesting talk with us. More with Ajie than with me.