Greetings from Arizona! This is your friend, Naomi GreyWolf, writing. Hope this finds you well.
Our children are no longer so little. They now range in age from 18 down to 8 1/2, and all are in school. They keep me and my husband, Annawon, very busy.
The older children help out with the care of the smaller ones, as well as the needs of Talise, our oldest daughter, who has brain damage (she is in a wheelchair and cannot walk or talk; she also has seizures; but she is still a very sweet young lady). When we (or they) cannot help, then Mother, who lives next to us, watches them, so we can have a break.
We find that this works out for the best.
My husband was working, but his health took bad, so he stays home, where he collects disability. This and the money we get from the government (a stipend check) helps out with the bills. We are not that hard up for money, but it would be a little easier if the children didn't eat us out of house and home. They are all growing so quickly!
I have been trying to write a book about the demands of caring for a family like ours, but it isn't easy when you have children clamoring for my attention or the dogs and cats crawling all over me as I try to write!
The weather here in Prescott is very hot, with temperatures in the 110-degree range. It is too hot to do most anything, so we stay inside our home, or the kids go swimming to cool off. We also go to the bingo hall on Fridays and to the church on Sundays for services in Dine' (we are Navajo; Dine' is the name of our native people, as well as our language; we speak both Dine' and Enlgish).
Not much has been happening to us except caring for our children, and trying to get them registered for the school year here on the rez. We have to get them school supplies as well as uniforms; it is mandatory by the reservation's governing body. We know that this month we will have less money than usual; I just hope we can make it until the end of this month!
Well, Talise is cooing again; she must be hungry, so I must tend to her. I will write in here soon; until then, this is Naomi GreyWolf saying so long and may the Great Spirit watch out over you!
~Sicnerely, your friend in Arizona, Naomi Dawn. :)
