chapter 27 it's sunday the next morning and so the frenzied family is tripping over each other as we get ready for church being the last one to use the bathroom i'm trying to do something with my hair the walls are pretty thin in this place and so i can hear my dad and judy talking in my mom's bedroom okay so i may have put my ear up to the wall but you didn't hear that from me it'd be good for you ed you know that my dad sighs i know judy you're right it's been a long time since we've been to church but i guess today would be a good day to start again i've forgotten about the strong native american spiritual heritage heritage there's a strong connection to god the creator or i guess whatever name you use he pauses as we drove up you mentioned how run down how poor the reservation looks but judy i think they may have the wealthy ones i think they may be the wealthy ones of the world the rest of us have a poverty of spirit because our heart gets cluttered with always trying to get more more money more awards more stuff that suffocates our lives yes i think you may be right dear and after the service judy pratt's and after judy i want to visit her he pauses it's been so many years i realize i've made such a mistake by not talking about her to apple if i could just redo hindsight as always 20 20. apple has had such a good time up here and it's good for you to be up here too i hear a sickening snack that sounds like a kiss gross parental pda worse than seeing them attempt to dance at least i just heard them kiss and didn't have to witness live in 3d how was i lucky enough to find you how do you put up with me dad whispers because your paycheck makes up for the rest of you i could hear both of them laughing i guess judy does make my dad happy how did i miss that before and judy after the service i'd like you to come up to see her too i know she would have loved you dad says we all pile into grandpa's truck we kids get to ride in the truck bed with no seats with no seat belts man this is fun i can see judy constantly looking back at us to make sure we don't fly out there is nothing like cruising down the highway of life with no cares but the wind in your face note to self do not talk in back of truck when it's going over 55 keeping the bugs out of your mouth is high priority as we get closer to saint francis xavier church we passed by the reservation sign and once again it has graffiti spray painted that neon green this time it says you're not welcome to the turtle mountain chippewa indian reservation carl's kid is at it again junior just looks at me and shakes his head nazi copies junior shaking her head too and makes a sour face with her lips i guess some people just never get over their hatred a few days after that incident was carl at dan's truck stop i remember asking grandpa why one indian person was being a jerk to another indian i foolishly thought we were all supposed to supposed to stick together grandpa got a far-off look in his eyes and answered me with a story which he did a lot see there was this man i met after the war he was stationed in poland during the war but didn't meet him until many years after he was a jewish man and spent the war in a german concentration camp i'll never forget what he told me in fact he wrote a book about his experiences you would think he would be a better a better man after all he lost most of his family into camps and the nazis tried to take away his humanity yet victor that was his name said the one thing no one could take from him what take from his take from him was his attitude if you can find a reason to live you can survive any trial or hardship and that you can basically split people all people into two races that of the decent and death of the indecent so grandpa you're saying there will always be jerks that are white and good people that are white and jerks that are indian and good people that are indian a yeah a pat on my head confirmed that i got it right just because carl and his kids are indian my race my peace doesn't automatically mean that they'll respect or accept me how unfortunate we pull into the church parking lot i think how nice it is for my family both sides of my family to be together we all walk into the church and take up two pews toward the front bear had a laughing fit when he heard junior say go sit in the pew up there there are things anything sounding remotely stinky is hilarious okay i laughed too some people nod at my dad like they know him i never really thought about that that my dad has been up here before it's almost like he had a whole life before i came along the church service is nice afterwards i head to the kitchen with grandma to make lunch she says if i want to learn how to make fry bread i need to practice practice practice i stare stay there with her and auntie over i want to respect my elders so i take orders how to dice like this and stir like that dad and judy go up to visit mom's grave junior and bear head out back to talk sports and little movie is out in the parking lot playing with some sidewalk chalk she begged moosham this morning to bring her bike her ride as she calls it so she'd have something to do while the rest of us women cook after church i see her run off i see her run over to jeff in the parking lot can hear her asking for just a little song but he pats her head and as he walks by and says something about a possible job at the casino playing guitar on the weekends she just throws her arms around him and runs off to ride her bike kids they'd forgive you for just about anything i think i laugh more than i had ever with auntie ober in the kitchen she says things like apple you want a man to notice you make sure you remember one thing to overlook the hair in the nose or my favorite my girl if you think a guy is the one see if he knows his mama's birth if he does grab him because if he treats his mama good he'll treat you good too if not let him walk the plank i just stand for a minute and take in everything for the first time in my life i feel happy and content it's a moment to savor because it won't last