Monday Love Note

A love note from O'ahu...

In December of 2019, I flew to O'ahu with my family to celebrate the life of my Aunty and the marriage of my cousin. It was the first time my kids had ever been to Hawai'i nei because I just couldn't afford to take them.

In the complex nature of my family dynamics, during my cousin's wedding, my Oma (step grandmother) snagged me alone for several moments to tell me that I was going to move to Waikiki and live near her and my grandfather. She informed me that we would drink tea and play mahjong every day while the kids played. I laughed and told her I didn't think we could afford to live on Waikiki, but she insisted.

I learned at a very young age that you do not try to argue or reason with Oma. So, I smiled and told her "Of course." Never expecting I would be able to afford to move home to Hawai'i, much less spend time on Waikiki with her. She died 7 months later, during the height of Covid due to a brain bleed. Because of the restrictions in Hawai'i at the time, I attended the funeral over Zoom. And it was maybe in that exact moment when Marko and I decided we were moving home to Hawai'i.