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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2004)
TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS Roberta J. Martin In Memory of Mom With Love, / miss you Mom tremendously. / miss our rides to Seaside. I miss holding hands through the tunnel. 1 miss snuggling with you watching the waves. I miss your smile and how we laughed about everything. I miss getting your coffee and going to lunch together. I miss painting your nails and how it tickled you. I miss your hands on my face and the mole on your thumb. I miss you in my living room and watching movies together. You are my very special “Two Watches.” But, you are with Dad now, and that brings me great comfort. Only now I can be at peace with your happiness. I think of you every single day. Your Jam-N-Jelly Tribal Member News Wanted Siletz News is looking for infor mation about tribal members similar to the articles you see on these pages. Give us a few details and we’D write the story. Or if something has been written about you, send us a copy and we’ll get permission to print it These seventh-grade students at Siletz Valley School formed the student government in January. From left - Dillon Blacketer, president; Natasha Williams, treasurer; Mariah Garza, vice president; Leslie Schuler, secret service; Kallee Abbass, secretary; and Jeremy Sweet (front), secret service. Different students will hold these positions each month. Siletz Valley School is the public charter school in Siletz, Ore., for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Our Mother, Roberta J. Martin - July 4,1932 - Dec. 19,2003 For almost two years. Mom has missed Dad. She was very ill when he died and to her it seemed almost a dream that she couldn’t wake up from. Her lone liness for him made her withdraw from those who cared about her and she started to lose interest in everyday activities. Mom was a very intelligent, non- judgmental, independent, and strong woman. She didn’t want to depend on others outside of her children. She taught us to cook and had the patience to continue teaching us until we knew how. Especially, her second-bom, who was given a special knife for Christmas that read “for sandwiches” on the handle. Mom would praise any attempts at making a meal. She was the best nurse who took care of us when we were ill and continued to take care of us into adulthood. Mom loved the water. As small children, we would watch as Mom and Dad swam in the ocean to the point that we would lose sight of them. She loved to sing as Dad would play his guitar. Mom was very artistic. All five of us would sit and pose while she sketched us; we were her models. She loved to paint and would cut pic tures from magazines and save them. From these pictures she would paint postcards that she would stash away or if you were lucky, receive them in the mail with “Thinking of you, love Mom.” A simple card but very special just the same. She loved to embroider. Sitting in her special chair with the lamp without a shade, she would create squares of embroidered flowers and give them away or store them for something special. If you were visiting her, you needed to wear sunglasses just to see her sitting in her chair with that 100-watt light bulb causing a beautiful silhouette of Mom. 3he loved to make dolls. She had a knack for giving them personality, which makes them extra special. Mom would create the faces and I, her oldest, would dress them. What a great team of doll makers we made. She also loved to go junkin’ (garage sales) with Dad. Those were special outings that the two of them enjoyed and their home showed the treasures they found. Mom enjoyed going out and having lunch and dinner when she was with Dad. And after Dad was gone, her daughter Jaimi would pick her up and take her out for rides to the beach to watch the waves or go shopping and together they would go to lunch or dinner. Mom loved doing this until she couldn’t go out any longer. When Mom smiled, her whole face would light up. She had the best sense of humor and all five of us were lucky to inherit that humor. Loud laughter would ring out in our home growing up, what a wonderful gift and memory. And in Mom’s last years when her daughter Jaimi came to visit, that same loud laughter had the caregivers running to check on Mom and find out what was so funny, but they would never tell ... and they would giggle even more. Our visits to Mom were definitely the loudest and noisiest. Mom’s career consisted of raising her five children. She worked as a secre tary for a short time, then as a nurse and finally with the Fairfax County schools in Virginia until Dad’s retirement, which brought them back to Oregon in 1987. She was a hard worker and very conscientious. Mom taught us to love and to cherish the small things and remember the good things. But her biggest career in life was being a wife of almost 50 years. She longed to be with Dad again and that longing was ended Dec. 19, 2003. Though the five of us will miss her with all our hearts, we know she is where she wants to be ... with her husband, our dad, smiling, laughing, and dancing again with her greatest love. We love and miss you, Mom. Your five loving children, Mikki, Darryn, Jaimi, Skip, and Tebby February 2004 □ Siletz News □ 9
