Back again from a four-day trip.
Sunday morning we packed our little Jetta TDI, filled up our travel mugs with piping hot coffee and drove north.  We headed to Melfort and then turned onto the highway towards the little town of Beatty, Saskatchewan.  The directions after that only read "ten miles north of Beatty, follow the power lines" and that was supposed to get us to the memorial service for "Billy" on James Smith First Nation!  Once we got that far, we pulled over and called Grace's cell phone and her son, Tyler answered.  "Wait right there and I'll come get you!"  He didn't even wait to ask where we were.  I guess he figured a couple white people in a car he didn't recognize would likely be Walter & Cindy from Regina!
Two minutes later, a van comes up beside us, rolls down the window and a man calls out "Hey, you're blocking traffic!"  As he is laughing at his own joke, the man asks if he can help us out.  Walter barely says "We are going to Grace's..." and he waves us forward, "That's where we're going.  Follow us!"  So I call Tyler back to cancel his services and we make our way up the dusty grid road.
We turn into a yard full of vehicles and several people already sitting or standing around.  It had been a windy drive up from Regina, but in the shelter of the bush around the yard, it was a calm and warm spot for a barbecue.  We park in a row behind several trucks and vans and then grab our lawn chairs from the trunk.  As we walk towards the crowd, we spot Kush and set up our chairs next to his.
We ask about Grace and Kush points to the house where she is helping prepare and organize the food. The memorial barbecue for her late son, Billy, is the 4th and final one in memory of his passing.  We had not been able to make it to the funeral nor to any of the previous memorials so we felt it very important to come to this one.
It was to start at one o'clock and we had arrived at about fifteen minutes before the hour. At promptly one o'clock, an elder prayed in Cree over the food and the elders and guests were invited to the food line. Kush signaled for us to come ahead of him as we were guests to the reserve, but in some ways we were family, as well.  You see, Kush adopted Walter as a son over 15 years earlier, and Grace is a step-mom, so Billy was a step-brother to Walter.  It was an honour to be treated this way and we did not take it lightly.  We dished up potato salad, burgers and the fixings, and also fresh baked bannock.  Someone had donated fish for the meal so it had been cooked in separate foil packages.  But the delicacy in my books was the barbecued bologna!  I must say it tasted quite delicious.  A big kettle of tea was made and a small urn of coffee.  Bottles of water were in cases beneath the table.  Desserts were set up in the house so dirt wouldn't land on the cupcakes and watermelon.
We sat in our lawn chairs, visiting with various guests nearby, while the siblings of the deceased were busy cooking and serving.  Grace was busy greeting people and inviting them to see the Memorial Board for Billy set up inside the house.
I ventured into the house soon after to see the picture board and choose some dessert.  Grace happened to be inside and introduced me to all the family and friends who were there.  She toured me around the house a bit, explaining that this is the house she raised her family in...but she was a little embarrassed at the shape it was in now.  The screen door was broken, the floor sloped and the linoleum was peeling.  She apologized for no running water or flush toilet.  The newer house a few yards over was the home she moved into later on.  Two of her sons were living in the old house currently and it is amazing how they could survive in it during the winter.
I returned to my lawn chair outside with a plate of goodies.  Seeing some of the elders sitting there, I offered to get them coffee or tea.  Walter was busy visiting with Kush and some of the other men; it was nice to be part of the community there.
At one point, I sat looking around, realizing we were the only white people there but it really didn't matter.  God had given us a family to belong to and we tried to show honour with the respect due to the departed and those who grieved.
We stayed until only the immediate family was still there.  Feeling it was an appropriate time to go, we said our good-byes, shaking hands and then hugging Kush and Grace.
Leaving with full hearts, full bellies and two water bottles for the road, we felt extremely blessed to have shared this event with very special people in our lives.