Karl Bodmer’s artwork symbolically surrounded us at our wedding reception at the Joslyn Art museum. As we celebrated our vows to marry with our family and friends, historical patrons watched over us from the walls of museum. The remembrances of the adventurers that had come to the American West were celebrating our coupling ceremony, as our lives and family histories came together in an American-Swiss concrescence.
 
Here are pictures of our wedding party:

​Here is a link that shows Prince Maximilien’s expedition route:
https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/an-illustrated-expedition
 
The National Museum of Wildlife Art exhibits Bodmer’s work:
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/9aa/9aa389.htm
 
This google book has Bodmer prints, and explains the context of Western Art:
https://books.google.ch/books?id=6M2IDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=joslyn+art+museum+bodmer+collection&source=bl&ots=FTF72Rgja9&sig=ACfU3U1WBGsYjbPOXE1ebXZlKGmHSFvyrQ&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXsZjwgKvnAhUBzaQKHcD1CGIQ6AEwDnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=joslyn%20art%20museum%20bodmer%20collection&f=false
 
Here is a book that details the expedition with Prince Maximilien’s journal notes:
https://books.google.ch/books?id=FT0TDgAAQBAJ&dq=L%27expedition+de+Prince+Maximillien+google+books&hl=fr
 
Here is Alfred North Whitehead book Process and Reality to better understand concrescence:
https://archive.org/details/AlfredNorthWhiteheadProcessAndReality/mode/2up
 
Here is an article about the cognitive theories of Maturana and Varela that explains structural coupling:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Mingers/publication/226739585_The_cognitive_theories_of_Maturana_and_Varela/links/550182060cf2d60c0e5f11a7/The-cognitive-theories-of-Maturana-and-Varela.pdf

Willa Cather’s writings greatly inspired me as a young girl when I discovered her novels in English class. Her feminine style spoke of the pioneer’s lives in Nebraska. Her characters were connected to the landscape and emulated the pioneer spirit that I have felt lift me.
Here are links to articles about Cather’s literary work, the museum in Red Cloud, Nebraska, as well as other references that connect to this chapter on faith and community service.  I showcase women’s ways of being in the world. Each culture develops practices to care for their communities. Our lives are a performance. In this chapter I share how I was brought up to faithfully serve. I also bring in voices that have inspired me and modelled ways to coordinate complexity, imagining new possibilities.
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Here are pictures of my great-grandmother Savidge’s quilts: