Red, the color of Jolly St. Nick's suit just happens to also be the color of our birthday suits. Coincidentally a good chunk of us seem to be shaped like Santa as well. Tis the time of year to throw out the sugar free candies to replace them with high blood sugar (and pressure) while we sit around the table telling stories of holidays past, present, and yet to come in our own Christmas Carol type trip through the cold Montana evenings. Like Mr. Scrooge, many stood alone at their mission schools on Christmas awaiting the day when they could see loved ones once again. Lovers were found and lost this time of year in drunken stupors. Unlike Scrooge, however, there is no epiphany on Christmas morning. There doesn't need to be.
In all my travels, I found it very unusual that there are families with only one or two relatives that they speak to. This is strange to me because behind window panes here on the reservation, families, no matter how little they have, feast with their relatives. Living rooms are filled with cousins upon cousins and aunts and uncles. People are cooking, nagging, eating, and most of all laughing. Arms are full of babies here on Christmas day. Despite the hardships of living in such a harsh environment, the economic hardship, and the heartbreaking stories that each person here carries on their shoulders, there is an unending amount of love for each other in this place. These are the reasons the merriest Christmases on earth take place right here in E. Montana.
Leave your best reservation Christmas stories in the comment section below!
No comments:
Post a Comment