I turned eighteen in 1976. Becoming an adult as opposed to an immancipated minor.
I felt like I had accomplished much. Every day since giving birth to my daughter as a fourteen year old I told myself that keeping us both safe and housed for four years was my purpose.
That goal superceded all others. Success that was mine while the rest of the country celebrated 200 years of dubious unity.
Being Wailaki I understood that America didn't want my kind of person yet we survived. I would grow up in America because America was the victor who forced my surviving family to assimilate. Sort of.
Now fifty years later I celebrate the diversity of today's America. It's clear that those who want an all white country will eventually have to accept their total fail. You only need eyes to see. There is no going back.
Overcoming this current assault will mean a new beginning. The opportunity to be a better country for all.
These flowers in our garden are a promise yet to be revealed like the new America that is coming.