Beautifully-stated piece, Stilli, about a beautiful state.

{{{GROPE HUG}}}

I could only hope that we could afford to visit Maui every year.

My wife and I have made the trip four times - twice with a grandson whom we are raising who is now 16. We've often discussed just how special Hawaii is. It seems to haunt us constantly, unlike any other place we have visited.

The one memory that will remain forever was the time we were on our way to the airport to leave at the end of our first visit. Iz played on the radio of our rental car, and I'm embarrassed to admit that his singing alone was enough to tug a little at the heartstrings. But then, from the rear seat came the voice of our ten year old grandson... "High above the chimney top is where you'll find me... Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly..."

I couldn't look at my wife sitting beside me. Didn't want to let her see me cry, but didn't need to worry. She would never have seen me through her own tears.

Hawaii haunts us still.

It's not the vacation. It's the fancy vacation in the big house. I don't know about you guys, but I didn't contribute to a campaign so the guy could spend it on a five-star resort. He can stay in Motel 6 like the rest of us!

Hawaii holds a special place in my heart as well. One of the two most beautiful sights I've ever seen was was on the return leg of the Moloka'i Channel race (Waikiki around a mark off Mau'i and back) during the 2000 Kenwood Cup. The race starts in the evening and we were coming back west across the north coast of Moloka'i just as the sun was coming up. The cliffs were a deep emerald green and the top was obscured by fog and as the sun came up and started to burn off the fog the glisten of hundreds of small waterfalls appeared and the deep emerald of the forest cover on the cliff face gave way to the most startling brilliant green dotted with the diamond flashes of the waterfalls. Add to that a 30kt following breeze that had us rocking and rolling under spinnaker in 6 foot swells and it was pure heaven!

I've seen many stunning things at sea but nothing quite like that!

:-)

zackly! I'm hoping it's just the general anxiety of our populace manifesting as less than constructive criticism. That said, I'm sure the Republican talking heads are taking every opportunity to flog 'the one' as DS so ineloquently phrased it above. Some of those who perceive themselves as 'political realists', (as well as just plain old right wing punks), are duty bound to point out any cracks, imagined or otherwise, in BHO's armor, in order to show the 'kool-aid drinkers' the error of their ways.

If anyone read Dreams from My Father they will know that Hawaii is not just a resort for Obama, it's filled with memories of people who were his life and who are now gone. I guess for some it would be more acceptable if he was vacationing in Pittsburgh. Anyone ever read Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut? If not, I suggest it for those who think Obama should be spending these precious weeks with his family in misery or in a miserable place.

Still:
I am continually amazed by your personal grace.
Thank you for telling us about letting your daughter go, and the aquatic presence who bore witness to that moment.
Obama is from and of Hawaii. He needed to let his grandmother go, privately, as he needed to affirm the importance of a particular place to his own sense of self and his own wife and children. Who among us should begrudge that private continuum? Before the test he faces? We should be thankful that there is a place for him, as there is for most of us, where he can feel he one is at one with the world.
Aloha.

You now have comparable ties to the islands as one who has ancestral roots in Hawaii.

I knew her being "laid to rest" there made the connection to the island even greater, but hadn't thought of it in ancestral terms...Thank you for pointing that out. It was a gift, that's for sure.

Stilli, the lost of your child. You keep your family close. And dear. I am sorry for your loss but you chose not to ignore it. You grasped it and held it as did your family.

I think of Lincoln and his losses. His personal losses.

I make too many jokes. I weep for your loss. But I praise your strong family and family values.

I found it comforting that two of the first comments in this thread referred to Iz.

Nothing I have ever heard has touched my soul as much as the music - and the passionate spirit - of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

He awakened early one morning and called the people at Mountain Apple Records and told them that he had to get down there and record something. And so, at three o'clock in the morning or so, they gathered at the recording studio. Amid cups of Kona coffee, they heard him sing that version of Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World that brings joy to our lives every time we hear it.

Bruddah Iz is the spirit and conscience of Hawaii to kama'aina and visitor alike. Go to Youtube and listen to "Hawaii 78" and understand the sadness of the native Hawaiians who "cry for the land, cry for the people, cry for the land that was taken away. And then, yes, you'll find Hawaii."

Listen to "Starting All Over Again," a song that was released after he died - and just after 9/11, and understand the need to keep going and keep faith after a loss.

Iz died ten years ago, but he lives in the hearts of all Hawaiians. And, though I have only visited the islands maybe a dozen times, I am able to capture the spirit of aloha every time I hear his voice.

I hope that some folks reading this post are unfamiliar with Iz and search out his works, starting with Youtube, and then his CD's, such as "Facing Future."

And then, yes, you'll find Hawaii.

In Spanish they say "better alone than in bad company". So be it.

Nice piece, thanks for sharing. Sounds like you and your family *live* Aloha, hence your daughter's wish to have her wishes spread there and where she will greet you every year.

There is something unique about Hawaii, summed up in the Aloha Spirit reference. My dad is Hawaiian, I was born there and moved away as a baby to San Diego, but we "lived" Hawaiian. This spirit has carried over to my own family, having been lucky enough to marry a "hapa", and raising our own boys with much Aloha Spirit. We spend a month every summer in Hawaii and our children relish discovering their roots--where daddy lived, what beach he went to, where gramma and grampa went to school...

Last summer we spread my father-in-law's ashes off of Diamond Head, where we were greeted by a honu and a dolphin--aumukua to welcome him home. Until the day comes for us for our final return home, we will keep living the Aloha Spirit and look forward to our summers filled with snorkeling, manapua, and Spam musubi.

[geez, sorry for the lengthy post...talking about Hawaii does that to me!] :-)

I wonder if the Hawaiian spirit will take wing during the Obama administration. Can someone please post a lovely blog that will help us all to grow in that spirit? It seems to me that, like Zen, it's something we shouldn't miss in a lifetime.