WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.820 align:middle line:90% 00:00:03.820 --> 00:00:06.280 align:middle line:84% So one thing that I did and, as I 00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:10.450 align:middle line:84% said, trying to avoid having too many that 00:00:10.450 --> 00:00:14.330 align:middle line:84% were my own story in this collection, 00:00:14.330 --> 00:00:16.990 align:middle line:84% I have a few pieces that are stories 00:00:16.990 --> 00:00:22.720 align:middle line:90% that I overheard from friends. 00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:26.320 align:middle line:84% Overheard certain things, and they worked themselves 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:32.650 align:middle line:84% into pieces that I decided to work out. 00:00:32.650 --> 00:00:36.700 align:middle line:84% And one of these is the piece called "The Way to Leave 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:37.720 align:middle line:90% Your Illness." 00:00:37.720 --> 00:00:40.330 align:middle line:84% And the setting is here on campus. 00:00:40.330 --> 00:00:43.580 align:middle line:90% So the library is our library. 00:00:43.580 --> 00:00:47.320 align:middle line:84% But the phrase, "the way to leave your illness," 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:53.800 align:middle line:84% is something that my colleague, Mary Willy, said one day. 00:00:53.800 --> 00:00:55.540 align:middle line:90% But she had been sick-- 00:00:55.540 --> 00:00:58.150 align:middle line:84% not sick-sick, but she had this cold and cough, 00:00:58.150 --> 00:01:01.570 align:middle line:84% and you know how they kind of just drag on forever 00:01:01.570 --> 00:01:02.470 align:middle line:90% and won't clear up. 00:01:02.470 --> 00:01:04.760 align:middle line:84% And she was getting really frustrated with it. 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:07.360 align:middle line:84% And so she told us-- oh, we were going to have class, 00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:08.650 align:middle line:90% and she comes walking in. 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:11.530 align:middle line:84% And she said, I just went all the way down 00:01:11.530 --> 00:01:13.570 align:middle line:84% to the other end of campus, to the library, 00:01:13.570 --> 00:01:16.270 align:middle line:90% and I just got back from there. 00:01:16.270 --> 00:01:17.950 align:middle line:84% And she said she walked over there 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:22.180 align:middle line:84% to try and leave her congestion and things over 00:01:22.180 --> 00:01:25.150 align:middle line:84% there so that it would clear up from her. 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:30.105 align:middle line:84% And she said that's what they were told when you were sick, 00:01:30.105 --> 00:01:31.480 align:middle line:84% that you could take it over there 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:34.750 align:middle line:90% and leave it and walk away. 00:01:34.750 --> 00:01:41.020 align:middle line:84% And anyway, so this was inspired by her little story 00:01:41.020 --> 00:01:42.850 align:middle line:90% about her grandmother. 00:01:42.850 --> 00:01:46.990 align:middle line:90% "The Way to Leave Your Illness." 00:01:46.990 --> 00:01:50.980 align:middle line:84% "If you have an illness that won't go away, take a journey. 00:01:50.980 --> 00:01:52.870 align:middle line:90% When you get there, leave it. 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:54.490 align:middle line:90% Place it on a rock. 00:01:54.490 --> 00:01:56.440 align:middle line:90% Throw it into moving water. 00:01:56.440 --> 00:01:57.370 align:middle line:90% Bury it. 00:01:57.370 --> 00:01:59.050 align:middle line:90% Throw it into the wind. 00:01:59.050 --> 00:02:00.740 align:middle line:90% Let it go. 00:02:00.740 --> 00:02:03.310 align:middle line:90% Leave it there for others. 00:02:03.310 --> 00:02:05.410 align:middle line:90% She had been sick for many days. 00:02:05.410 --> 00:02:07.450 align:middle line:84% In her frustration, she remembered what 00:02:07.450 --> 00:02:09.520 align:middle line:90% her grandmother used to say. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:13.160 align:middle line:84% Take it far away and leave it there. 00:02:13.160 --> 00:02:16.900 align:middle line:84% So she walked to the other end of campus towards the library. 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:21.040 align:middle line:84% In her mind, she left the discomfort, ache, pain there. 00:02:21.040 --> 00:02:24.070 align:middle line:84% She walked back comforted, knowing she 00:02:24.070 --> 00:02:26.120 align:middle line:90% didn't bring it back with her. 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:29.620 align:middle line:84% Her illness is now hidden in the stacks. 00:02:29.620 --> 00:02:33.640 align:middle line:84% Perhaps it is temporarily in periodicals, 00:02:33.640 --> 00:02:36.640 align:middle line:84% or archived in special collections, 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:39.790 align:middle line:84% or perhaps in fiction and no longer real." 00:02:39.790 --> 00:02:42.460 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:46.780 align:middle line:84% So she did start to feel better after that, so I can vouch for. 00:02:46.780 --> 00:02:55.890 align:middle line:90% 00:02:55.890 --> 00:03:00.990 align:middle line:84% Also, this one is about another woman, a Navajo 00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:04.035 align:middle line:90% woman, just a young girl. 00:03:04.035 --> 00:03:06.450 align:middle line:84% And this is from a memory from a long time 00:03:06.450 --> 00:03:10.260 align:middle line:84% ago when my husband and I were just young parents 00:03:10.260 --> 00:03:14.610 align:middle line:84% and we would help raise money for our daughter's 00:03:14.610 --> 00:03:18.660 align:middle line:84% Indian School programs in elementary school. 00:03:18.660 --> 00:03:25.560 align:middle line:84% And our big fundraiser was Tucson Meet Yourself, downtown. 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.680 align:middle line:84% And we'd be there really early with our fire going 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:30.720 align:middle line:90% to make fry bread and so forth. 00:03:30.720 --> 00:03:33.780 align:middle line:90% 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:37.500 align:middle line:84% So one morning we were there just testing everything. 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:41.850 align:middle line:84% And we'd made some bread to see how hot the oil was. 00:03:41.850 --> 00:03:45.240 align:middle line:90% And this young girl comes by. 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.010 align:middle line:90% And so this is her story. 00:03:49.010 --> 00:03:50.650 align:middle line:84% And it's called "Just Like Home." 00:03:50.650 --> 00:03:53.560 align:middle line:90% 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.560 align:middle line:84% "The young woman buys a piece of fresh fried bread 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:00.250 align:middle line:84% from the Indian Parent Association booth. 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:03.490 align:middle line:90% Oh, just like home, she says. 00:04:03.490 --> 00:04:05.410 align:middle line:90% Do you have any salt? 00:04:05.410 --> 00:04:07.600 align:middle line:84% I poured a small amount in her palm. 00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:09.550 align:middle line:90% She sprinkles it on her bread. 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:11.370 align:middle line:90% She takes a bite. 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:14.320 align:middle line:90% Mmm, just like home. 00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:16.779 align:middle line:84% She seems unaware she has her eyes 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:19.269 align:middle line:90% closed as she eats and talks. 00:04:19.269 --> 00:04:24.160 align:middle line:84% The delicate bite of freshly cooked bread takes her back. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.920 align:middle line:84% She stands on the street in downtown Tucson 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.950 align:middle line:84% and thinks of women so familiar to her, 00:04:29.950 --> 00:04:33.670 align:middle line:84% her mother, her sisters cooking outside. 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.070 align:middle line:84% In the distance, the sound of someone 00:04:36.070 --> 00:04:39.160 align:middle line:90% chopping wood, a barking dog. 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.430 align:middle line:84% Piñon smoke is so real for her right now. 00:04:42.430 --> 00:04:45.700 align:middle line:84% Her hair might smell of it if she moved 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:49.050 align:middle line:84% and the breeze caught her just right." 00:04:49.050 --> 00:04:55.000 align:middle line:90%