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Show 7a The day before, my mother and he had celbrated their fortieth anniversary. I had wanted to make gift-reservations for them at t h e i r honeymoon-hotel in Idaho and pushed harder for this than I had anything since I was a teenager. But my father said no, he couldn't get away just now, and my mother agreed t h a t too many questions would be raised, other wives wondering why they couldn't have - a t r i p alone with too, him'and she d i d n ' t want to add to his burdens I couldn't shake my sadness that my mother's one small, selfish wish could not be granted. I f e l t that the two would never have another chance to celebrate t h e i r second honeymoon and in my depression, only telephoned my mother to acknowledge the day. I d i d n ' t phone my father, thinking anniversaries were a dime a dozen to him. So I bought him a book. It was a photographic study, with few l i n e s of t e x t . 'Something s h o r t , ' I thought half-consciously. -Otherwise he won't have time to finish i t .' The thin book with i t s s l i c k , glossy cover was an attempt to 'prove' the t r u t h of t h e Book of Mormor^. A man had followed the alleged route of Lehi and his sons a from P a l e s t i n e , acros„sc +th>,eP PFaaccifuiic to the new Promised Land, America. There, the people f e l l into sin - i ~A urar-r-pd with each some being'cursed with a dark skin - and warre u +r, rfiqcredit the Mormon other. Although I had read much to discre • • „ n f +hP native American, I theory regarding the origins of the n a^ felt that the book would count as my concession to my of i t I hoped i t would f a t h e r ' s wholehearted acceptance 01 xo. be a white flag, communicating my cpen-mindedness and willingness to learn. |