A person who is very dear to my soul died this Monday morning. It was a big shock to me. Her name was Verna Greavette Fulford. I was able to make it to the wake last night but cant get to the funeral this morning. Verna took me in and gave me a place to stay when I first moved here. She is a beautiful and generous Anishinaabekwe who was one of the strongest people I ever met. We worked on land claim negotiations at home when things were very divisive. As if they arent now. lol. I cant claim that she was a diplomat but she was as honest as honest comes. And at the end of the day Ill take honesty over diplomacy any day. When I needed to find work and I was able to get a job at the campus radio station at Waterloo I called Verna out of the blue and she opened her house to me, she introduced me to people she knew in this community and I have life long friends because of her. I was and still am a single mom always just surviving precariously at best but I am telling you that without Verna we would not have had the good transition that we had to a City I knew nothing about and had to move to under difficult circumstances. She was there for me when I was sad, when I was sick, when I was afraid and vulnerable. She even had my family over to dinner at one point and gave me her Karaoke machine with tapes and all. All the way from the Valley. And that is how I found my voice. Singing Karaoke with Verna Graevette and Sandra Spears at the Silver Spur. Then I started having the courage to play my drum. We used to go to meeting organizing against the land claim as it was evolving because it really mattered to both her and I that our descendents had a future. I am actually crying right now. I think thats okay creator. Over the last five years we lost touch. We were on facebook but we didnt see each other. I was shocked to find out she was dying and even more shocked to learn she passed away on Monday morning. I am really grateful that I got to the funeral home for the wake last night and thankful to her daughter and her daughter in law for letting me know. I am deeply sad but I am happy to see that her family is surrounded by a whole bunch of loving people. And although I need to get back to problem solving life in general and to fulfill on my commitments here and now. I just needed to express my grief somewhere. Life is too short and too precious. We should all be so good of heart to remembered the way I remember Verna Greavette. Have a good journey and I will see you on the other side soon enough. Love you.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:12:21 +0000
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