Elder Sophie Robert recalls some of her early childhood experiences before attend­ing residential school and some of her experiences as a young adult, wife, and mother. Her talk was given to Celia Haig-Brown in 1986 during an open-ended interview on residential schooling in 1986. Six years later, Sophie and Celia have worked together to share the following story/transcript with readers of this jour­nal. Sophie's story contains powerful messages for individual and family healing. Celia Haig-Brown's response shows the influence of Sophie's teaching on her work in academe.