Lesson 4:Swimming Silently

I nodded. Is this why Grandmother takes me to Meeting
Does she think I could be a great leader someday
Grandmother gazed into her teacup. “One night, your
mother had a powerful dream, in which she dreamed that she
would not survive the birth of her child — a son. When she
awoke, she knew the dream had foretold the future, and she
knew what she had to do.”
I gulped, but could not speak. I nodded for her to go on.
“One moonlit night, your mother’s time had come.
She and her husband went to the island beach, which was
empty, except for one she-turtle who had crawled upon the
shore to lay her eggs. Side by side, the two mothers delivered
their young. The she-turtle dug a hole and laid her eggs inside
of it, and there on the sand your mother gave birth to you.
Your father named you Malu, meaning peace.”
“Before your mother died, she kissed you goodbye.
‘Let him go,’ she told your father. ‘He will come back to you
someday.’ Your mother spoke to the she-turtle for a long time.
When the turtle agreed to take you to our clan, your father
tied you to the turtle’s back. He held your mother as she lay
dying, and they watched the turtle carry you into the ocean.
You plunged into the water like a turtle hatchling.”
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