Ohana (family)

A celebration of life brought my brother and I on an 8 hour road trip to Las Vegas for my cousin, Pumpkins funeral. Her full name is Melvalyn Yvette "Keala" Kahalehoe Manuma. In Hawaii, many of the children are given "nick names" growing up and her's is Pumpkin. I'll have to ask my cousin how that came about because there always is a story to how we got our names. The drive was long and luckily I was able to rent a car from Enterprise Car Rental at the San Francisco Airport for $9.99 a day, awesomely good deal when you're on a budget and my car that I primarily drive was in the shop and the cost was over $2600.00 to repair so that pretty much wiped out my checking account. The services were moved from Saturday to a Sunday because of some dispute over money and planning arrangements that needed more preparation. I picked up my brother late into Saturday morning and the drive took about 8 hours with his driving 110 miles an hour at the latter end of our trip. I was very relieved when we got to Las Vegas that there were no Highway Patrol that stopped us for speeding. Arriving into Las Vegas and now we had to search for our cousins who were staying at the California Hotel and we were to spend the night with them. Just by chance, they were still at the Main Street Station Buffet finishing dinner. We joined them for dinner and our reunions are always bittersweet. We did not grow up together, per se, but often when we visited either in Hawaii or California, it was due to our parents and relatives. We did what kids do, teased, played, ate, played more and got in trouble when we did not mind our parents or elders. It was good, clean fun. Being together brought back all those memories and reminiscing when we were younger. Now looking and taking pictures of ourselves, I can see our parents where they once were and the age has caught up to us. Gatherings bring some comfort to us and a spirit that is always re-kindled when we gather but it's unfortunate that it happens when a loved one passes. Celebrations are less as I age and funerals or "Celebrations of life" become more common in my life. My cousin's celebration of life was a true testament to her family's love for her and she will truly be missed. Rest in love my dear cousin, Pumpkin. I love you always.

Mortality

I have been to quite a few funerals for my family involving my cousins on both sides of my family. I've traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, Las Vegas, NV and have been connected with Facebook as family send their condolences to distant relatives and their passing. Facebook keeps us connected in ways that were not possible 20 years ago and I'm very glad that this is possible today. Such a sad time of passing makes me think of my own mortality in this vibrant, beautiful and spirited world. I cannot imagine the possibilities of not living and always seeking the dark as many people often do. There must be a switch within me that prevents me from the darkness. People live through wars, atrocities that I cannot fathom, living on the streets in weather conditions I have never experienced and many more struggles that on one should have to go through but they do and they persevere against all odds. We go on. We shed tears of joy, sorrow, happiness and pain. We sometimes shed tears for no reason, does there have to be? My own sadness stems from the passing of my parents whom I love very much. They loved their children and family. My mother was a very giving individual as was my father. They always took care of family and friends. Where ever we lived family members always find us and a gathering that would be for a night ended up being for the whole weekend. This is where I receive the gift of caring, giving, loyalty, loving and generosity. All of my values, I credit my parents for this and can only hope that my children strive to attain these values and pass them onto whom ever they come in contact with. A paying if forward, if you will. I try to one good deed a day and have probably done too many deeds at work and people take a step back and realize the uniqueness of my gesture. Their guard comes down and they offer hugs, a smile, a word of thanks and realize there is good in this world.