Dust of a Distant Mesa

A true story of friendship, loss, redemption, and courage.

"So, this is what I am to expect for my whole life?" I asked, near tears.

"Young White, you must have a vision of the kind of man you will become." The old man, revered among the Navajo, picked up his rattlesnake cane and touched me on the shoulder. "You do not have to be like your father. You can decide to be a different man."

That night I dreamed I was standing on a high mesa looking out into the distance. A man and a woman came to stand beside me. Others joined us as well until there was a great crowd of people around me. I felt their presence and their warmth. I was not alone.