The Medicine Bag ( Paragraph 27-43)

The Medicine Bag

Reading with Ms. Ro

Paragraph 27-28

We found out after the doctor’s visit. Grandpa was angrily sitting up in bed while Mom tried to feed him some soup. “Tonight you let Marie feed you, Grandpa,” spoke my dad, who had gotten home from work just as the doctor was leaving.
“You’re not really sick,” he said as he gently pushed Grandpa back against the pillows. “The doctor said you just got too tired and hot after your long trip.”

Multiple Choice

How did Grandpa feel about being fed by Martin's Mom?

• Happy

• Angry

• Sad

• Excited

Multiple Choice

When did Martin's Dad get home?

• After the doctor left

• Before the doctor left

• As the doctor was leaving

• When Grandpa arrived

Multiple Choice

What did the doctor say was wrong with Grandpa?

• he got to tired and hot from the trip

• he got a cold

• he was tired from working out before the trip

• he was hungry and needed to eat

I knew everybody felt as guilty as I did—especially Mom. Mom was all Grandpa had left. So even after she married my dad, who’s a white man and teaches in the college in our city, and after Cheryl and I were born, Mom made sure that every summer we spent a week with Grandpa.

30

Grandpa relaxed, and between sips of soup he told us of his journey. Soon after our visit to him Grandpa decided that he would like to see where his only living descendants lived and what our home was like. Besides, he admitted sheepishly, he was lonesome after we left.

29

Paragraph 29-30

Multiple Choice

When did Grandpa decide to visit his family?

• After they left in the spring

• After they left in the fall

• After they left in the summer

• After they left in the winter

Multiple Choice

What does sheepishly mean?

• impressed

• glamorous

• embarrassed

• chant

Multiple Choice

Why did Mom feel especially bad?

• Because grandpa was poor

• because Grandpa was Lonely

• because grandpa was sick

• because grandpa is not happy

He had stopped to rest on the steps of some building downtown and a policeman found him. The cop, according to Grandpa, was a good man who took him to the bus stop and waited until the bus came and told the driver to let Grandpa out at Bell View Drive. After Grandpa got off the bus, he started walking again. But he couldn’t see the house numbers on the other side when he walked on the sidewalk, so he walked in the middle of the street. That’s when all the little kids and dogs followed him.

32

I never thought that Grandpa would be lonely after our visits, and none of us noticed how old and weak he had become. But Grandpa knew and so he came to us. He had ridden on buses for two and a half days. When he arrived in the city, tired and stiff from sitting for so long, he set out, walking, to find us.

31

Paragraph 31-32

Multiple Choice

Why did Grandpa end up walking in the middle of the street?

• He felt safer there

• He couldn't see

• He couldn't hear

Multiple Choice

What unexpected company did Grandpa attract while walking through the streets?

• Kids and Dogs

• Cats and Kids

• People and birds

Multiple Choice

How long did it take for Grandpa to get to his last living descendants?

• 3 days

• 2.5 days

• 5 days

• 2.5 hours

“You found the money in my boots?” he asked Mom. “Martin did,” she answered and then scolded, “Grandpa, you shouldn’t have carried so much money. What if someone had stolen it from you?”

34-35

I knew everybody felt as bad as I did. Yet I was so proud of this eighty-six-year-old man who had never been away from the reservation but who had the courage to travel so far alone.

33

Paragraph 33-35

Multiple Choice

How old is Grandpa?

• 86

• 68

• 100

• 75

Multiple Choice

Who found the money in Grandpa's boots?

• Mom

• Dad

• Martin

• Grandpa himself

“That won’t be necessary, Grandpa,” Dad said. “We are honored to have you with us, and you will never be a burden. I am only sorry that we never thought to bring you home with us this summer and spare you the discomfort of a long bus trip.”

37

Grandpa laughed. “I would’ve known if anyone tried to take the boots off my feet. The money is what I’ve saved for a long time—a hundred dollars—for my funeral. But you take it now to buy groceries so that I won’t be a burden to you while I am here.”

36

Paragraph 36-37

Multiple Choice

How did Grandpa react when Mom scolded him for carrying so much money?

• He laughed

• He became angry

• He apologized

• He ignored her

Multiple Choice

Why did Grandpa carry so much money with him?

• He wanted to buy gifts for his family

• He was planning to invest in a business

• It was his savings for his funeral

• He intended to donate it to charity

Multiple Choice

Why did Dad feel sorry for not bringing Grandpa home earlier?

• Because he thought Grandpa would be uncomfortable on the bus

• Because he felt guilty for leaving Grandpa alone

• Because he wanted Grandpa to avoid the discomfort of a long trip

• Because he didn't want Grandpa to spend money on the bus ticket

“Also,” Grandpa went on, looking at me. “I have come because it is soon time for Martin to have the medicine bag.” We all knew what that meant. Grandpa thought he was going to die, and he had to follow the tradition of his family to pass the medicine bag, along with its history, to the oldest male child.

39-40

Grandpa was pleased. “Thank you,” he answered. “But don’t feel bad that you didn’t bring me with you, for I would not have come then. It was not time.” He said this in such a way that no one could argue with him. To Grandpa and the Lakota, he once told me, a thing would be done when it was the right time to do it, and that’s the way it was.

38

Paragraph 38-40

Multiple Choice

Why did Grandpa say it wasn't time for him to come with the family earlier?

• Because he was waiting for the right moment

• Because he didn't want to leave the reservation

• Because he wasn't feeling well

• Because he was busy with his own affairs

Multiple Choice

What did Grandpa mean when he said, "a thing would be done when it was the right time to do it"?

• He believed in doing things impulsively

• He believed in planning everything in advance

• He believed in following traditional timing

• He believed in procrastination

Multiple Choice

What did Grandpa mean when he said, "it is soon time for Martin to have the medicine bag"?

• Martin needed to start his own traditional journey

• Martin needed to inherit his belongings

• Martin needed to take care of him

• Martin needed to take the medicine

Multiple Choice

Who did Grandpa intend to pass the medicine bag to?

• Dad

• Mom

• Martin

• Grandpa

But Grandpa was tired. “Not now, Martin,” he said waving his hand in dismissal. “It is not time. Now I will sleep.”

42

“Even though the boy,” he said, still looking at me, “doesn’t have an Indian name, the medicine bag will be his.”

41

Paragraph 41-43

​I didn’t know what to say. I had the same hot and cold feeling that I had when I first saw Grandpa in the street. The medicine bag was the dirty leather pouch I had found around his neck. “I could never wear it,” I almost said aloud. I thought of having my friends see it in gym class or at the swimming pool and could imagine the smart things they would say. But I just swallowed hard and took a step toward the bed. I knew I would have to take it.

43

Multiple Choice

What was Martin's initial reaction to inheriting the medicine bag?

• He felt excited

• He felt worried about what his friends would think

• He felt honored

• He felt indifferent

Multiple Choice

What did Grandpa do when Martin approached him to take the medicine bag?

• He gave it to him immediately

• He told him to wait because it wasn't the right time

• He refused to give it to him

• He asked Martin to bring it later

Multiple Choice

What did Martin feel when Grandpa said it wasn't the right time?

• Relieved

• Disappointed

• Excited

• Angry