I have cried and know it is time to let the bitterness and resentment go. I have survived and will continue to grow from here. I sent the hurt away with the smoke of sweetgrass. It is dismissed to go where it will. It will no longer stay inside me to grow and fester. Now I can go to a brighter tomorrow. (Rosa Bell, cited in Jaine, 1993, p. 15)

I have had many experiences and I guess I carry my own burden of pain. But I have to give thanks to the Elders who spent the time, who gave me the love and support I needed to heal, and who taught me that patience was the first thing I needed to overcome the suffering that I was going through.

Our Elders have deep wells of patience and it is this patience that can help take you through the excruciatingly slow steps towards recovery. There are no shortcuts to healing. There are no easy answers. We have to do the best that one can, either in the Indian tradition or in the Christian tradition. (Harold Cardinal, cited in Jaine, 1993, pp. 23-24).