Ancient Heartfires

I want to share one of the stories I witnessed that was deeply touching though I can only repeat the grandmother's words from my memory. One of the grandmother's came to the microphone because she had somehting to share with us. She said there was a young woman who lived near where our gathering was being held. She heard the drumming from the daily sacred fire rituals on the beach from her balcony. What she heard was frigthening to her at first. Then she became curious, and Thursday (which just happened to be the Blessing for the Youth) she came down to the Sacred Fire and talked the grandmothers. She told them she was adopted. She, also, knew her ancestry was Cherokee, but she knew nothing of her birth family or about her native heritage. Grandmother spoke, "I asked her to come here this morning." She asked the young woman and her mother to step forward, then she called on all the Cherokee grandmothers to come forward to meet and be with their new granddaughter. Myself and those sitting around me had tears welling up. This brave young woman, this brave mother coming admist strangers and being accepted and enfolded into a new family.

Then one of the Cherokee grandmothers stepped gently face to face with this young woman. She told her own story of not knowing her people or her heritage because it was illegal for her granfather to acknowledge his Cherokee ancestry. She told how she, too, had been adopted by a Cherokee grandmother. This grandmother had hand knitted her a shawl. She took off the beautiful shawl she had been wearing, and gave it to her new granddaughter. She was given other gifts of welcome & acknowledgment.

She was. also, adopted by the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. I believe we were all very moved by what we witnessed, One of the grandmothers in a heartfelt plea asked us to remember to reach out to all the children everywhere. I thought about how much we want to belong, and the ways we manifest that longing from book clubs to gangs. And how simple and profund and outpouring of love and acceptance really is.