Lessons Well Taught

There are those who walk among us whose presence changes the shape and sound of things. There are those who walk among us whose belief in truth and beauty makes all that is good true, and all that is true beautiful. Tom Lucas, the last full blood of the Kwaaymii tribe, walked among us for 86 years. He was such a man.

Tom Lucas believed in his people, but not to the exclusion of others. Tom Lucas met life with courage, but knew the value of fear. Tom Lucas knew hate and injustice, but maintained his power to love. To know such a man is to recognize the promise and the possibility in all of us.

Winter now lives in the Laguna Mountains. Snow blankets the ground where Tom’s circle is complete. He has taught us good lessons and he has taught them well. Let them grow, like the sage that will come in the spring, rich with insight and with healing for our often troubled times.

LYNN DRIES-DAFFNER

Solana Beach