My name was gifted to me in an inadvertant and unexpected way. It was a beautiful early October day with a warm sun and turquoise sky. I was at a small Native American gathering at the foothills of the Catskill mountains in upstate NY. There was a Taino(the native people of what is today Puerto Rico) storyteller teaching me and the other listeners about how the Redheart tribe came to be. When he finished, me and two or three others were talking to him aside and I remember saying how Redheart is the name I was always searching for. He instructed me to keep the name for one year, and if it is as strong in you then as it is today, then the name is yours to keep. Just at that moment, I looked skyward and saw four hawks flying in a perfect circle directly over us. I remember how he said that was a very sacred moment. That day was nearly ten winters ago.
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