Now that I'm settled down a bit, I've thought about adding another horse to my stable. The steel kind, that is. Most of you have heard mention of 319 JOE-- the little Subaru that could. "Joe" has been faithful to me for years and I remain equally loyal to him. However, out here on the prairie, with badlands and rattlers, a man needs a truck, too, sometimes. Two miles outside of Killdeer, on the side of the road, there's a 1981 (or so) Toyota pickup that's looking pretty good to me. She's in rough shape--blue spray paint covers the rust. But there's something gallant about her. Her license plate is GOF 753. I'd call her the Gopher. Or "Prairie Dog Blue." My guess is she's under $250.
Now, about my mom and her almost doctorate.
- Born in 1945 on my grandparents' small farm/cattle ranch in Charlo, MT. Oldest daughter in an 11-person family. Her father was 2nd-generation Croatian, her mother 2nd-generation Irish. Both Catholic. Both born and raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
-Graduated from Charlo High in 1963. B.A. at the University of Montana-Missoula in 1972.
-M.A. in political science at U of MT in 1979. Did thesis on Mao's "thought reform" movement during the Chinese Revolution.
-Ed.S. in counseling at U of M in 1996. Did professional paper on "Racism: Roots and Recovery."
-Next week she'll receive her Ed.D. (education doctorate) in counselor education from the U of M. Her dissertation is based on a survey she did of the full-time instructors at the seven Montana tribal colleges. She's been looking at how reports of job satisfaction differ between American Indian and Non-Indian faculty members and between male and female faculty members. She's worked for Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Reservation (where I spent most of my childhood) for 13 years. Before that she was a drug counselor for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and then worked in the schools for Indian education. She was counselor at Salish Kootenai College for 10 years, then switched to online teaching so she and my dad could move to my dad's home state of North Dakota.
Note: Mom can't understand why I'm writing this about her in the journal. I tell her that getting a doctorate is amazing and should be celebrated. Three cheers for Mom!!!
4 comments:
Hooray for her! An inspiration to women (and mothers) everywhere!
CONGRATS!! to your mom.
Sandman, I have a money $$ making idea for you ... "If you should happen to buy the pick up truck you've wrote about, and sell JOE 319. You should have an online auction on your site to sell the so famous plates. You set the price and readers will start the bidding. You just never know how high the bidding will go. You may be blown away at how may people/fans are interested. Or just sell one, and keep the other for your self ( as a remberance token of the so faithful car.) It would be a shame to just give up the plates with the car to some stranger. Just an idea that came to mind when I read your journal. I would bid on JOEs'plates. All you need to do is have the bidder list their email (on the post a comment ) along with their bidding price so you can contact the winner. ( you would also need to make it visible for all bidders to see the going price) Almost like ebay. Not sure if it's legal to do on a private site, just an idea to ponder! ~J
is "racism: roots and recovery" available through university of montana's library, do ya know? i wanna read it.
J- It's a daily struggle to scare off the international license plate rustlers and automobile paparazzi. They are shameless and shifty. My fans aren't like that...but neither could they ever afford JOE's plates. (Starting bid: $5015.)
Anon.- Mom sez that yes, it is available at U of M, and also in Pablo, MT at Salish-Kootenai College.
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