Memories of Wilma Yourex, by Cindy Nielsen

One of her [Wilma’s] stories that made the most impact on me was about a young Native American man. I no longer remember the tribe, but they had become good friends. It is a little fuzzy now, but I think this young man was an artist. She had a cherished book called Warriors of the Rainbow on Native American prophecy by William Willoya and Vinson Brown. I can’t remember if he did any of the writing or only art work. But I am pretty sure he did the artwork that pictured the title. I remember looking at the picture with her. He had made a powerful impact on her. He had been murdered while still quite young several years before I met her during a visit to Texas. She was still grieving him… I also remember her talking about her deceased husband, but those stories haven’t stayed with me either. I do remember her telling me a teaching story. She needed some window repair and got to talking to the man about the Faith. He was very interested, but it took a lot of time away from his job and she distracted him. When he went home, he hadn’t done a very good job on her windows and she was trying to figure out how to respond as she figured her teaching him and distracting him was at least partially responsible. I have thought about that frequently in my own teaching.