End of an Era
April 18, 2015
Dear M,
Change is hard. You are struggling with the knowledge that your family is selling the land, the land that has been part of your family’s history going back to your Grandpa’s time. When did land become a burden to the aunts and uncles who hold the titles to that land? You know they made their homes elsewhere, but they forget what they left behind. You fume at the thought of what you heard time and again how Grandpa and his six boys worked and paid for the land, but now what’s left for the grandchildren like you? Nothing. It’s an end of an era for you.
You typically don’t involve yourself in political things, whether it’s family politics, or the government. You usually don’t care what others do; you are not a judge. You’re a laid back person, and strife rolls off your back, but traditional things matter to you, like this land. It’s your Native American heritage that makes you care for the land. In your family, it seems as if the pride in that heritage has skipped a generation. You know your parents believed as you do about land, but not the aunts and uncles.
You often wondered about land as a child, but as you grew older, you realized you didn’t want to own land if you couldn’t have what your grandparents and your dad worked so hard to own. Owning land is not worth it if fosters greed, and you realized greed ruined many lives in your family, and of all you witnessed it. Your family’s land is priceless, and it amazes you that the rest of your family doesn’t seem to care. Yes, you know all about inheritance taxes, fees, and all that about the land, still, how things unfolded saddens you. You think about what YOU could do to honor your grandparents with the land, but that opportunity won’t arise. It’s an end of an era for you.
Land is valuable, and in that respect, you wanted to carry on that tradition for your own family, but now after all you’ve seen and witnessed with your family, that land is not part of your dream anymore. One day you’d like to live off the land, so you hold out hope that you might get to do that, but you won’t hold your breath. You’d rather be free. It makes you angry that you won’t get the chance to live off the land of your grandparents. You admire their hard work, and value their example.
So, here you sit, pondering the ‘traditional’ way of life, remembering your grandparents. Time and life changes, so you must change as well. Selling the land is an end of an era, but also the end of your dream to live off your family’s land.

Write your memories, Mary. Write about the land, write about those dreams. The land may change hands, but it will be there. If not fueling your dream to live off the land, it will fuel your words and stories. You may get your wish and be able to survive one day by living off the land, but you wonder if it will hold the same meaning. Down the road, your perceptions may change, and that’s okay with you. Wanting to own land from your grandparents is an end of an era for you, but it doesn’t have to be the end of your dream. Change is hard, but you’ll adapt. You always do.
M.

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