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Dear Gina: Uma Tullaq Writes From Alaska...(For Michelle Kidwell With Love) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Rated "G" by the Author.
I was quite surprised to hear from you. Thank you for writing.
To tell you about myself, my name is Uma Naiomi Tullaq, and I live in Eek, Alaska (don't laugh; that is the actual name of the place in which I dwell!) with my husband, Kirk. We don't have any children yet, but we are in the process of adopting either a boy or girl from Russia. Hopefully we will find out something; keep us in your thoughts!
I am disabled: I have multiple sclerosis which affects my balance, my strength, and my vision. Whenever my balance is off, I use a wheelchair on severe days or crutches on the not-so-bad ones, and if my vision is bothering me, I just stay in bed because I get dizzy. I get nauseasted, too (the meds I am on do nothing to improve my appetite). On other days I feel as weak as a newborn kitten. It is not easy to live with this thing called MS.
Beccause of my disability, I can't work. My husband, Kirk, works, though; he is the chief breadwinner of the family. He is a commercial fisherman, and he is gone most days during the week, sometimes during the weekend. I hardly see him during the week, and it is hard, especially if I am having a hard day.
I was born here in Alaska. I am Native Alaskan (Inuit, of the Y'upik tribe), and I speak both Inutpiat (our native tongue) and English. I also speak French. I am short and roly-poly with longish, jet black hair, dark, swarthy skin, and eyes that tend to squeeze shut when I laugh or cry. My husband, he is Inuk too, but he is taller and heavier than me by a good twenty-thirty pounds. He is solid as a block of ice. LOL
What is the weather like where you live? Here it is cold a good part of the year, and during the summer we don't see any darkness while during the winter months, the only lights we see are the Northern Lights (or the moon and stars) lighting our way. We get a lot of bitterly cold weather, and we have to bundle up like bears to keep the excess cold from freezing our skin. I bet it would be considered hot if I ever came to where you live! LOL
I write to a woman in Tennessee named Louisiana Sandusky who has introduced me to the adoption community. I have seen people from as far away as England and Japan writing stories or letters, and I am wondering if you keep in touch with one another. I wouldn't mind joining myself, but I feel stupid because I am still learning the computer, and I don't have any children to speak of just yet. I don't read very well, and my spelling is terrible, so if you see mistakes, please do forgive me.
Your children (Flora, Ashleigh, and Asia) are beautiful! I wish I had a child to love; I hate this infernal waiting! It is hard, so very hard, and on some days I get so frustrated I can't help but to cry. I would give anything to have a child to love and call my own!! I am glad they have a good mamma in you! :)
Gina, I am afraid I am not a Christian. I don't undretand about salvation or Jesus or Heaven. I believe in the gods of the spirit world, and I believe that all things, living and dead, have a spirit--animals, people, even things like trees, the moon, sun, stars, the northern lights. It is thw way I was taught by my ancestors, and it was the way I was raised. Louisiana has tried to tell me about Jesus, but she has only left me more confused than ever before. I don't know what to say or think about this Jesus person.
I am sorry that there are people who want nothing more than to tear your family apart because of your disability. That is terrible! It seems that Louisiana Sandusky has gone through the same thing herself, but she has fought back, and now life for her is very good. She has been through so much as a wife and mother! (I am reading her books, "A Family Made Out Of Miracles And Rainbows" and "...And The Miracles Continue"; she sent them to me, free of charge. The books are both very good, very interesting reading!)
I hope that these people realize that just because you have a disability like MS that doesn't mean you can't be a good mamma to the girls. I will be praying to the spirits for extra protection for you and your children. Let me know how things develop.
Well, Gina, I will go now. Take care, and be blessed in all that you do!
~Most sincerely, a new friend in Alaska, Uma Naiomi Tullaq from Eek. :)
Yankee Doodle Daddy is a historical Appalachian Family Saga. The story follows a mother's reckoning as she struggles to survive and keep her four daughters alive.
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Exploring the impact of literary icon Flannery O'Connor's noted legacy on the cultural realities of modern-day America, the world, and a certain author.
