The "Faces of Strangers: #10" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting on the beach in Providenciales talking with Al about the pow-wow that he went to recently in New York.  He was telling me that he tries to go to the annual event whenever he can.  A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American Indian culture.  Sounds really interesting.  He may be the only Native American that I know.  His features made me think that he was a native Hawaiian and he told me that he has been taken for an Hawaiian many times.  Al has an interesting background, to say the least.  He was telling me the story about his grandfather who was home from a tour with the Merchant Marines.  Upon his return to duty, his 14 year-old son, unbeknownst to him, stowed away on his ship.  He eventually was discovered and was going to be thrown overboard.  Al's grandfather told his son that he was going to tell the officers on the ship that he could cook, therefore allowing him to stay on board.  He told his dad that he had no idea how to cook.  He found out real quick how to cook and eventually became a Merchant Marine himself.  Naturally the 14 year-old was Al's father who could speak 7 languages.  Al has 8 siblings and is the middle child with half being older and half being younger; the oldest is 10 years younger and the oldest is 10 years older.  Al's mother was a Native American, half Blackfoot who were from the Dakotas and a peaceful tribe and half Cherokee from the Southeastern US who were an aggressive tribe.  Al's laid-back personality tells me that he probably has more of the Blackfoot in him than the Cherokee.  Al is currently in sales of security software with sales in Canada and Hawaii.  My conversation with Al and his wife, who I will write about on another day, was interesting to say the least.  My wife and I shared stories with the two of them of our visits to other Caribbean islands and we all agreed that the beach we were sitting on was perhaps one of the best in the world.  Talking with Al gave me more insight into the history of the United States and the varied population that we have in our great country. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.