Smoke Signals 5
DECEMBER 15,2012
Mother, child reunite for first Christmas in 40 years
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
For 43-year-old Veronica Gaston,
this Christmas will end 40 years of
holidays without her mother.
"It wasn't until after her health
went down that I reached out to
her," says Veronica from the home
in Elder housing that she now
shares with her long-estranged
mother, Elder Donna Casey, 72.
"And she reached back."
This was in August, just after
Casey had had a fall at the house
and was recovering in the hospi
tal. Veronica said to herself, "I need
to reach out to her."
After nearly a lifetime of estrange
ment, mother and daughter will
enjoy their first Christmas together
this year since "R-Bears" Donna's
long ago nickname for Veronica
was adopted out at 3 years of
age when Donna and the late Oren
George Pichette were divorcing.
"We looked for somebody that we
both agreed on," Donna remem
bers. Pichette walked on soon after
the adoption was completed, but
what followed for Veronica was a
youth she remembers filled with
prayers for being reunited with
her mother.
"I also wish I could find pictures
of my dad holding me," Veronica
says. "I have nothing of my dad's."
"Her dad worshipped her," Donna
recalls.
For four decades, mother and
daughter were kept apart by ru
mors that each had heard about the
other the daughter as ungrate
ful, the mom as uncaring.
"I always wondered what was
going through Veronica's head,"
says Donna of her daughter's child-
1 U l!r-i '
r i
V 7
17:
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Veronica Gaston places a measuring cup in a bowl as bar mother, Tribal Elder
Donna Casey, opens the flour to measure it out while they make pie crust
at their home in Elder Housing on Thursday, Dec 6. This Christmas is the
first one they will be spending together in 40 years since the two have been
separated since Gaston was adopted at the age 3. They reunited in August.
hood years, "but I felt like it would
be better for her if I didn't make
waves."
Even at 21, when Veronica re
members moving out of her adop
tive parents' home, she says she
had no desire to see her mother.
Veronica says she kicked around
the country, from California and
the Northwest to Maryland, Vir
ginia, Florida and Arizona, working
at Disneyland, the Grand Canyon
and McDonald's for almost 20 years
before returning to Grand Ronde
for her health.
She returned to the reservation
area a few times over the years
before returning a few years ago to
settle down for good. In the 1990s,
she returned to honor the death of
her grandmother, Elder Blanche
Lillard.
More recently, however, "My
health was so bad," Veronica says,
"I thought I was going to pass away,
and wanted to go home." Still, with
heads full of bad thoughts for the
other, it was a few years here in
Grand Ronde before the two recon
ciled this summer.
"I went out and purchased a
stuffed bear and flowers for her,"
says Veronica. "She was asleep,
but I left a note. (I wrote) if she
wanted to call me she could. She
did and thanked me for the flowers
and the bear. She let me know she
was going into Lifecare, a nursing
home."
Veronica says she "was n little
scared (at the first meeting) be
cause I didn't know what to expect,
but it was very positive. We sat and
talked for a good hour."
They talked about "anything and
everything, how I was doing and
what I was up to. I shared places
I had been.
"She said the three words I
thought I would never hear from
her: 'I love you.' I thought I would
never hear that from my mother.
She said she wanted to come home
(from Lifecare), but she needed to
find someone who could be with her
and I volunteered. To my delight,
she accepted."
"R-Bears is my menu maker, dish
washer, she picks up my pens. She
does everything for me," Donna
says.
"Right now," says Veronica, "I am
working on a very special present
to give to my mom for Christmas
and hoping I get it done in time.
It will have a flower, which is the
symbol of love.
"When I lived in Spokane, (where
she grew up), I prayed every day
that mom would take me home.
Now, 40 years later, it has hap
pened. God does answer prayers,
but on His time, not ours." B
Tribe holding New Year's
Eve Sobriety Event
The Tribe's Youth Prevention and Behavioral Health programs are
sponsoring a New Year's Eve Sobriety Event at the Northern Lights
Theatre, 3893 Commercial St. S.E., Salem.
Buses will leave the Tribal Community Center at 3:25 p.m. There
will be three movies to choose from starting at 5 p.m. and a dinner
of salad, burrito or pizza or wrap, a sundae and bottomless popcorn
and soda.
The event is open to Tribal member families, plus one guest per
family. There are 285 seats available and they will be reserved on a
first-come, first-served basis. The last day to RSVP is noon Monday,
Dec. 24.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Shannon Stanton at 503-879-1489
or Shannon.stantongrandronde.org. B
Cultural Resources seeking
Restoration-era photos
Cultural Resources Department Interpretive Designer Julie Brown is
seeking photos related to the Tribe's Restoration, especially fundraising
efforts that occurred around 1982-84.
The photos will be used in a two-month exhibit next April at Willamette
Heritage Center regarding Termination and Restoration.
If you have any photos, contact Brown at 503-879-2186 or Julie.brown
grandronde.org. B
201 3 Tribal
Marketplace dates
Jan. 4-5, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Jan. 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Dates subject to change due to conflicting Tribal or SMC events.
Located across from Cedar Plank Buffet.
P) Grand Ronde
uentai uimic
Eric Webster DDS Kenneth Wylie, DMD Erin Lange DMD
Mots, Toes, Wed and Fri
8AJX.-5 PJIL
,: Thursday 9-JSO AM. - 5 PJIL
Closed for hutch 120 AM -1:30 PJ&L
Emergency Hour: lion, Toe, Wed, Fri 8 AM. Thar ft0 AM.
l Please call
I for more information about Emergency time
We now offer Cleaning appointments 5 dajra a week (
503-879-2020
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