Bereft and out of options

and her family prepare to celebrate the new year

and cultural significance of manoomin (wild rice)

With a new afterword by the authors

and then the feeling of hope he gained from connecting with the spiritual ways of his people

Commonwealth Choctaw Bereft and out of optionsOne Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia,