When I was a little girl my grandfather used to pull
me up on his lap and tell my the stories of our people.
I vividly remember the "Legend of the Eagles"
When the Great Spirit created all he made the eagle
ruler of the sky, above all other feathered ones.
Because they were above all others they were special.
They were made as "pairs." One an exact match of another.
Their wing span the same width; the colors and markings
of each of their feathers identical. Two that are as One.
An Eagle would search until he found the one whom was
the same. Without that match his spirit would never soar
as high as possible. He would not live as he was intended to.
My grandfather would speak of the Eagle's eyes, how if
you looked close enough you could see the reflection of
it's mate. How the image was so clear and how no other animal
made by the Great Spirit knows what it's mate looks like.
He would ruffle my hair teasingly and tell me how our people
is as the eagle but that we are less fortunate and do not know
what we search for or have a picture of our one true mate.
He would tell me each time "lil spirit...search for the one
whose heart beat is the same as yours. The one whose hand
when placed up against yours is an exact match and if you
search for and find that one...you will be able to feel that
person every moment of your days and nights." He would go on
to tell me how he had found his eagle in Grandma and his
life and heart were filled by her, he would whisper solemnly,
"Even though she is not of our people" and wink.
Grandma was 13 and Papaw was 21 when they married.They had
never been apart not for even a single day, in their 63 years
of marriage, until he broke his hip and had to go to a nursing
home. On a respirator and no longer able to speak due to throat cancer. His eyes would
fill with tears and he would mouth the words..."TAKE ME HOME"
during our visits. Those 3 years were the hardest, I've ever had
to live through. Watching him slowly slip away and become a mere shell of the man he used to be and then his journey ended. With the connection
between them, I never expected Grandma to survive without him.
