MISSOULA, Mont.- Lemuel Nahum Price, 24, was killed in a single-car crash on April 20. The accident around 3 a.m. on a winding, mountain road occurred just weeks before Price was to start his first, full-time job as a staff photographer at the Topeka (Kan.) Capitol Journal, a newspaper noted for its photojournalism.
Since graduating in 2001 from the University of Montana with a photojournalism degree, Price had had internships at The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., and the Associated Press bureau in Seattle.
A single parent, he left behind two children, Kiyana, 5, and Wakiyan, who turned 3 the day his father died.
I first met Lem in November 2000. It was the week before my 20th birthday and I was running late for a field trip. The Native students in the journalism school were all invited to go to Portland for some kind of newspaper job fair.
I woke up late and I didn't pack the night before. I was pissed. I threw some cloths into a bag and ran across campus to meet up with the vanload of Indians I didn't know. It was one of the most intimidating moments of my life.
I knew two people. The rest were total strangers. I was so scared, but then I saw Lem. All I could do was sigh and blink my eyes. He was so handsome. I was in love with him from the moment I met him. At first it was just how he looked, but then I heard him talk, and saw the way he walked. Everything he did was so damn cool. The extra special added plus was his personality. He was an amazing person. The way he presented himself was like nothing I've ever seen before. He had an aura about him that exuded beauty. Everyone loved Lem. That was the person that he was, beautiful inside and outside and anyone could see that.
Cool Hair
Lem had cool hair. It was an Afro, but it was still soft and fine. I wanted to touch his hair so badly, just to see what it felt like, but being kind of traditional, I wouldn't ask him if I could. I remember he was teasing his sister, Faith, about her straight hair. He said, "Yeah, she's my sister, but she's not my sista."
I didn't really talk to him much during that trip. I do remember that he got mad at me for not talking to any of the recruiters. I thought, "Why does he care?" I would soon find out that he just cared because that was the person he was.
After that trip I would see Lem around campus. I never really hung out with him. Whenever we would see eachother, I would tell whoever I was with, "Here comes the man of my dreams." We would laugh and regain our composure. He would come up to us and say hi and ask me how I was doing. He was very polite. He was always polite.
The next semester I took Native American Studies 100, with Professor George Price. Lem was in the class with me. I didn't find out until later that George was Lem's father. It was Lem's senior year. This was his last semester at UM and he was taking a 100-level NAS class with his dad teaching. I thought, "I wish I had those kinds of connections."
The Approach
Throughout that semester I watched as Lem's hair got bigger and bigger. The bigger his Afro got, the more I wanted to braid it.
I didn't want to approach him, for fear of saying something stupid, but one day luck was with me. Lem approached me after class and asked me to braid his hair. He was so shy about asking. It was the cutest thing I ever saw. After I gave him my phone number, I was walking on air. I just couldn't believe that one of the most beautiful men in the world had my phone number!
It was all because I knew how to braid hair. I was so proud of myself. All those hours of practicing on my friends was finally paying off. This was one of the fringe benefits that I dreamed about.
The first time I braided his hair it was all crooked and uneven and I was so embarrassed to say that I did it. But Lem was so happy. He was so proud to have his hair done. It was amazing to watch him look beyond the crooked parts and the short hairs sticking out the back. He was truly grateful. All I could do was sigh and blink my eyes.
I took pictures of all the hair I did. Lem is in my hair book. I haven't looked in that book since the funeral. It's difficult for me to think that he's gone. It seems like only yesterday I braided his hair for the first time.
The Next Week
It seems like only yesterday he asked me if I could braid his hair again the next week. Of course I said yes. All I could do was sigh and blink my eyes.
The next week I had it all worked out. I was so ready to engage in some interesting albeit shallow journalism-type conversation with him. But it wasn't like that. All Lem could talk about was his kids. I didn't know he had kids until then. He just talked and talked about how his little girl Kiyana thought he was so cool when his hair was braided. And how his boy Wakiyan was good at basketball already. He promised to bring me pictures the next time he came over. I got to know his personality more. I wasn't afraid to pull his hair really tight. There was a vast improvement.
I remember a time when Lem ambushed me on campus. I can't remember if he called ahead or what, but I remember that I ended up braiding his hair at a picnic table by the J-school. He bought me a pop. I wanted the whole world to see me braiding this beautiful man's hair. Lem wanted me to braid his hair. He knew other people who could braid his hair, but he wanted me to do it. I was so proud.
'Hurry, Hurry'
I did 10 braids in his hair that day and they were perfect. Lem had to go pick up Kiyana at the babysitter's at 4 pm. At 3:55, he was feeling around his head to see how many braids I had left to do. By 4, he was saying he was convinced the babysitter was going to hate him. I was convinced he was going to hate me for being so slow.
At 4:10, I started the last braid. He was saying, "Hurry, hurry, they are going to think I'm a bad father. Getting my hair braided when I should be picking up my kid." He was half joking but I knew he needed to go. I braided those last three so fast my hands were cramping up.
I didn't get done with his hair until 4:20. As soon as I got the last rubber band in, he was gone. He was nothing but legs and arms running across the Oval. He yelled out, "Thank you!!"
Those were the braids he wore to the Kyi-Yo powwow on campus. He looked good the night I saw him. I walked into the Adam's Center to help out with the powwow and he was the first person I saw.
He came up to me with his arms outstretched, gave me a hug and showed me his hair. "See Lu, it still looks good!"
His hair did look good. He looked good. He had a huge smile on his face. That was almost a year ago. Exactly one week short of a year later he is gone. I went to the Kyi-Yo powwow this year, and I walked down that hallway and Lem wasn't there. He wasn't there to show me that his braids still looked good. I wanted to break down right there, but I had to be strong.
Graduation Day
I remember braiding his hair for graduation. He looked amazing. He was so happy to be done with college. He knew he worked his ass off to get his degree. He deserved every bit of pride he felt that day.
I didn't get to see him graduate. I saw the pictures. They are amazing. You could see the excitement in his eyes. His eyes always gave away his true emotion.
I did his hair on Friday before graduation. Lem brought over pictures of his kids. If you never met him before and walked by the room, you would have heard him talking and you would have known exactly what he loved in life.
"That's Wakiyan, he's a little baller. He's really good already. All he wants to do is play basketball. This is Kiyana. She wants her hair braided, too. She won't let me fix her hair anymore. She said she's a big girl now. I took these pictures with a wide-angle lens. I think it was 30 mm. I didn't think they'd turn out, but they are pretty good."
Proud father. That's what was first in his life. His kids. His family. Second was his talent, photojournalism. That's what he did: He was a daddy and a photographer. He was damn good at both.
Off to Tacoma
I remember Lem joking around about taking me with him on his internship last summer in Tacoma, Wash. "I can get my hair braided everyday!" I never told him this, but if he gave me five minutes I would have had a bag ready to go.
That day he came to my dorm to get his hair braided. We talked and laughed, and I sighed and blinked my eyes. He shared his pictures, said his goodbyes and gave me a hug. I almost cried. He was teasing me about taking me with him. He kept looking in the mirror to see his hair. It made him so happy. On May 18, 2001 I thought I saw the last of Lem Price.
Everyone said Lem always came home. It was true. Labor Day weekend he came home. I saw him again. He was bald. My heart broke. He saw me and said, "Man, I should have never shaved my head." I told him he was dumb. We caught up on our summer stories. I sighed and blinked my eyes.
Through fall semester I saw him here and there. We'd talk. We'd laugh. He'd smile and I'd sigh and blink my eyes.
Back Home
About the beginning of February I was out with the girls and I saw him. He said he thought his hair was getting long enough to braid. I checked it out, gave him my new phone number and told him to call. He called me on a Thursday at 3 p.m. I told him that I would be home. He remembered. He called me. He came over that night. My heart broke. I knew from the moment he walked in that his hair was too short, but I tried.
His heart was broken, too. I told him his hair was too short, and he was convinced that his sister was able to braid it the night before. I told him to call me back in a few weeks.
The Friday before spring break I was out and about and he saw me. He came running up. "Hey, my hair is long enough to braid!"
I said, "Yeah, it is. Too bad I'm going home huh."
His face dropped. I wanted to stay in Missoula just so I could braid his hair, but I told him to call me on the next Thursday at 3 pm.
The week I came back from the break, I forgot that I was going to get a call from him, but Lem remembered. Thursday at 3. He was so faithful that way. He came over that night. Too short. Hearts were broken. Smiles were gone. Why didn't his hair grow faster?
Another Call, Another Try
April 11 he called me at 3 p.m. I didn't even tell him to this time. He said his hair was long enough. I was sure it had to be. So he came over that night. He was running late and I was afraid that he was not going to show up, but he did. We got down to business. I was a braiding fool.
It was very difficult. He kept flinching and I was struggling through the short hair in the back, but I did eight braids. He made the cutest sounds when I pulled his hair too tight. He was so excited to see his hair done. After each braid he looked in the mirror. By now I knew how he worked. I kept the mirror in his reach. When I was done, the braids looked okay, but I knew they wouldn't last very long.
He called me again on Thursday, excited that his hair lasted longer than I expected. He said he put some gel in it and it was good to go. I thought it was so cute the way he made sure to mention that it was no friz gel. He asked me if I could do his hair again that night.
It was April 18. I wasn't doing anything after my usual Thursday night appointments. He asked me if I saw the movie, "K-PAX." I said no. He said he'd rent it and bring it over. I thought, "A movie!? He never ever brought over a movie! Yes!"
Red Bandana
I was by myself in the house, so I had no one to share my excitement with. He came over, dressed in red. He always did look good in red. He had a red bandana on his head, too. He was so damn cool. We popped the movie in the DVD player and got down to business. About 15 minutes later, everyone showed up, my roommates, my brother, his girlfriend and my cousin. I introduced him to everyone.
He and my brother hit it off right away. So we were watching the movie, braiding his hair and talking about everything and nothing. Lem was so excited about his hair. We finished "K-PAX" and I still had to do about four more braids. So we put "Willow" in. We started talking about that movie and how old it was and how old we felt, because we could remember when it was at the movie theater.
I put 10 braids in his hair. He looked damn good. Not as good as graduation but he looked good. Lem was really excited that he didn't flinch when I was braiding his hair. "Hey, did you notice I didn't make any noises or anything while you were doing my hair? Next time I'll be back in the routine and I won't feel any pain." He was so cute. I just sighed and blinked my eyes.
The Bill
The part I hated was telling Lem that I was charging for hair. The first time I told him I was going to charge him, I changed my mind after the fact. His hair didn't look good enough to pay for. So I told him that he didn't have to give me anything. Lem was one of those nice guys, though. He said he wanted to pay me. I told him I'd take five so I could buy some smokes. He gave me a 10 and told me to take it all. I couldn't argue with him. I tried, but he insisted that my work was worth $10.
The last time I braided his hair I told him 10 bucks would do. His face lit up when he looked in my mirror for the last time and said, "Naw, I think this is a $15 job." I told him 10 would be good enough. It was no use arguing with him. He insisted on giving me 15 for his hair. I told him if he wanted to give me 15 then he could. He went out to his car and came back in with his money. He handed me a $20 bill. I told him I didn't have any change.
"Go ahead and keep the extra five for next week." He asked if I could do his hair for the Kyi-Yo powwow or maybe, he said, I could do his girl's hair. Faith had made Kiyana a fancy dance outfit and he was so excited that she was going to dance. I still have that $5. I can't bring myself to spend it. I know I will contribute it to the fund for Kiyana and Wakiyan. It will be hard to part with simply because I got it from Lem.
Like a Little Kid
After Lem left I thought, "I'm going to be so busy next week, how am I going to find time to braid anyone's hair?" This wasn't just anyone who wanted their hair done. This was Lem; I would stop everything to do his hair. He was special. He was different. He was the only one who showed me how happy it made him. He was like a little kid. There was certain innocence about him.
He had a difficult life. His heart was broken. He needed someone in his life to make him feel special. Despite all of that there was still innocence about him. An excitement surrounded him. The excitement didn't come from the knowledge that he was an awesome photojournalist. It didn't come from an inflated ego. He didn't think he was a great man, because he took care of his kids alone. He just did what he had to do. This excitement came from the small things in his life. His daughter fighting him over his puffy hair, his boy playing basketball, these things excited him. Watching a movie with friends, bowling, talking to people, the simple things in life were the things that made him happy.
Lem lived a happy life. He had a difficult situation but he made the best out of it. He took the good with the bad, and he let the good determine who he was and he pushed the bad aside. I know I'm going to take a cue from Lem's life. I am going to let the small things in life make me happy. I'm going to wear my smile as proudly as Lem wore his. I'm not going to let life's difficulties stop me from accomplishing everything I want.
Classic Lem
The night I braided Lem's hair for the last time I told him I wanted to take some time off from school. He told me taking time off would be good for me. He told me about an internship he got while he was taking his time off. For some reason right then and there I decided to stick with school until I could get some offers. I think he was trying to get me to decide to stay in school. The conversation went from how I was taking time off to what classes I was going to take. After talking to him and hearing his stories and encouragement I wanted to be in school. I wanted to be that much closer to my degree.
That was a classic Lem move. He had a way with people. It wasn't that he was a "born salesman." It was more that he let people feel that he truly cared about them. Even if he spoke to a total stranger, he had respect for him. He could grow to love someone in a matter of hours. He let that show. It wasn't outright and blatant but it was there; the beauty of Lem was the subtleness in the way he handled his emotions. He acted his emotions out. You knew what he felt without him having to say it. It was something that people just have. You can't learn to do that.
Lem loved his children with everything he had. He gave his children enough love to last a lifetime. He loved them so much everyday, I don't think there was a moment when they didn't know that. They won't get to spend time with their daddy anymore. They won't be able to turn to their dad and ask him about his cameras. Kiyana won't be able to fight her daddy about his puffy hair. Wakiyan won't be able to play his dad one on one. But they will have their memories of what they knew of him.
They'll have the memories of the time they spent with him. The last bedtime story he told them, the last time they woke up and their daddy took off his bandana and showed them his hair. They will always see their dad's warm smile and they will be able to hear his laugh. Lem will always be there with his kids. He can't be there for them. I know he will be there with them. Now when I think of him, I just sigh and blink my eyes, but now I'm blinking away tears.
Hearing the News
When I heard the news I didn't believe it. I had to call someone else to see if it was true. I broke down into tears. It couldn't be happening like that. Lem couldn't be gone like that. He was too beautiful to have such a violent death. He was supposed to live a long happy life. He was supposed to grow old and become even more like his dad. He was supposed to walk his little girl down the aisle. He was supposed to have heart-to-heart conversations with his son about life and love. He was supposed to be there for them and for us. He's not there anymore.
I saw him on Thursday night, and late Friday night he was gone. His hair was still braided. I went to the viewing and I saw him. His hair was still braided. That was too much for me to handle. I couldn't hold back the heartbreak. I cried the whole time I was there. I cried for his kids, for his sisters, for his brother, for his parents. I cried for him. I wish I could change everything and make it so that he was still here. I can't, but that's what I want to do.
The last time I braided Lem's hair, I told him his braids would probably last three or four days. He said he was going to make them last as long as possible. Like all of his promises, he kept that one. He went to the Lord with my braids. I haven't done hair since I heard the news. I can't bring myself to braid at all. It's going to be a while until I can do that again. It's going to be a while for me to do a lot of things that remind me of him. I'm going to miss him. On Thursday's at 3 pm, I will miss him the most. I'll say my prayer for Kiyana and Wakiyan, sigh and blink my eyes.