I feel like David’s spirituality played a very negative factor in his life until he was able to reach older adulthood. From the beginning it does appear that David suffered early trauma from the death of his father, loss of his mother and being sent to boarding school away from his grandmother. The trauma, continued from the beatings he received while in school and continued on through Vietnam and into adulthood. He continued struggle through adult hood with homelessness, alcoholism, and the loss of relationship with his son.
There does not appear to be a whole lot of spirituality going on with David until much later in his life. His connection through the VA and the Native American culture seemed to have transformed him into a different
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The loss of his culture, and relationship between David and his grandmother at a very young age. David, not only lost his parents but, also his grandmother and support system that he could relate to at the time. Which could possibly been seen as abandonment issues to someone to someone who is very young. Thus, playing out the same kind of behaviors as an adult to his own son which was magnified by his trauma, substance abuse and loss of his identity. That can be seen as a pattern of intergenerational issues that will continue to affect the family as a whole from start to finish.
I felt the most important intergenerational theme was connection between family hardships, behaviors and social support that David experienced from the help of the VA, social worker, and the collectivity of the his culture that David experienced later his life. He was able to embrace his struggle, share his defining moments with his son and grandchildren to help them better understand the turning points he experienced within his life culture. In addition, he was able to return to his roots by working with members of his own culture to help them through their own