This is a special News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.
Please join us in wishing The Center’s beloved leaders, Ernest and June Siva, a most happy 54th wedding anniversary!
She was studying for her PhD in marine biology, and he was working on his master’s degree in choral music, when they met in the chorale at University of Southern California. He finally got up the nerve to say “hello.” And then more time went by. And he eventually began to chat with the beautiful red-headed soprano who was in a nearby row of singers.
More time went by. He’d walk past the biology lab where she was working, and see her through the big windows. And they kept singing together in the chorale.
He finally asked her for a date. He couldn’t afford anything, really. He asked her out for coffee.
She didn’t drink coffee.
She said “yes” anyway.
More time passed. They fell more and more in love. Finally, they said “I do,” in their marriage ceremony on the winter solstice, Dec. 20, 1969.
Dragonflies Played a Role! Here’s How it Happened.
A Bit of Background:
If you’ve been to Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, you’ve probably seen dragonfly art everywhere and learned that the Ushkana lullaby, Ernest Siva’s signature song, can call in a dragonfly.
That’s because: Kind Thoughts!
“The Dragonfly Song is a Serrano/Cahuilla lullaby,” Ernest Siva explains in Voices of the Flute (Ushkana Press, © 2004). “If you see a dragonfly hovering about and you sing this song, the dragonfly will either come to you, or stay away from you. It is a good sign if he comes to you, and not so good if he stays away. The teaching goes, if you are kind and have kind thoughts, he will come to you. Conversely, if you are troubled, nervous, angry, etc., he will leave your presence. The elders say, ‘Mehuun terrux!’, ‘Quiet your heart!’ In other words, be calm and confident before proceeding with anything of importance.”
The Dragonfly Song is the Sivas’ Romance Story
We thank animator Isaac Webb and his wife, Olivia, for gifting Dorothy Ramon Learning Center with this animated story of how dragonflies became matchmakers.
More than Half a Century Later …
At the 2023 Dragonfly Gala, which celebrated the 501c3 nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s 20th anniversary, the Morongo Empowerment Program sponsored a photo area that celebrated the Sivas’ dragonfly love story.
Happy anniversary, Ernest and June! Thank you for 20 years of leading the 501c3 nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center in saving and sharing Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.
Thanks to all for reading News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center. Editor Pat Murkland’s surprising the Sivas with this “happy anniversary” newsletter.