Aloha, A Hui Hou

It is Palm Sunday and on this glorious day the Lord made I am finding myself staring at a picture on my wall from the vacation that Anthony and I took last year to Hawaii. The picture illustrate what people expect when they go to Hawaii and if I may say so myself it shows our happiness to be there together.  These are memories from almost a year ago. An experience that we hope to repeat and create even better memories in the future.  However, sitting in my living room today this all seems almost impossible to imagine now.

For the past few weeks, we have all experienced our new normal.  We were all ordered to Shelter in Place.  To be safe at home.  To distance ourselves from one another for the good of each other.  We get daily news conferences from our elected officials updating us, trying to keep us calm, making requests that we thought we would never have to adhere to in this country and yet – now we do.  

We have witnessed people still making poor choices and minimizing the gravity of the situation creating conflict and much needed debate in what is best under the circumstances.  We have also seen humanity at it’s worse and more importantly we have seen humanity try to return to being human. We see countless people caring and taking care of each other in their own ways.  Some of them have no choice they are considered essential.  Others do it by bringing messages of hope and appreciation, but most are trying to make our new world a tolerable world.

In my own home I have seen my children become even better people than they already are.  They have followed the rules from the day they were instituted, and not once have we had to argue as to why it is important that they do so.  I have never been prouder of their ability to show maturity and responsibility for their actions.  Sure, we all get on each other’s nerves because our space isn’t very big and living as we now do is an adjustment, but nonetheless we are making it work.  Dinner is once again an occasion and so is conversation.  This past Friday night we were supposed to watch a movie and instead we pulled out the books from when they were younger and read through their favorite bedtime stories. 

Who knew that in this world of having or wanting to be away from each other we would look to the past and enjoy hours of conversations and get to know each once more as we are now.  Who knew that you could have a successful virtual game of music Jeopardy with your family in 4 different homes – but we did.  Who knew that being told to distance yourself from one another would mean hearing from family and friends near and far more often than you have in a while or that you would pray more than you ever had to be able to hug and see your loved ones more than you thought you wanted to.

We always hear about how sacrifice leads to reward and this time the reward is literally saving lives – I cannot think of anything more important than that.    As we continue to worry about not having toilet paper or running out of food or getting sick, I hope we also remember that most of us have the privilege to be able to stay home with all the things we need.  This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t worry about our worldly responsibilities, but all that can be replaced.  What we can’t replace is the life of a loved one ours or theirs.  

As I type this, I can’t help but look at the pictures from Hawaii hanging on my walls and my kids’ books back on the bookshelf.  I would be lying if I said I don’t long for our life a year ago heck month ago.  If I said that I didn’t miss my loved ones and our time together or that I am not worried about what our life will be like when this is over.   There is so much to process that the answers are just not there yet, but one thing I know and that is that as a people we always find a way because I believe in the power and mercy of God.  I believe in the love and compassion of people.

I’ve never liked the word goodbye and this situation has made me understand why.  It is because we relate goodbye to an end.  It is the fear we feel about not seeing our loved ones or friends soon or in some cases again.  I’ve thought about those that are sick and what must go through their minds.  I’ve thought about those that are marginalized and how this pandemic can impact them the most.  There are many things that go through a person’s mind when we are forced to see our reality, but like I said earlier I believe in the power of God to help us be a better people.  I believe that together we can and should take care of each other.

I know you are probably sick of hearing my Hawaiian stories, but I have a great deal of admiration for their traditions and their ability to love.  The aloha spirit truly lives everywhere you go as it is part of the people so much so that the airport in Honolulu has a lot of traditional words engraved on the ground as you make your way through the terminals and each time I left I always loved reading all the words. Till this day my favorite phrase was A Hui Hou.  The phrase takes away the finality of a goodbye and simply provides a hopeful – Until we meet again.  As we continue with our quarantine and social distancing, I invite you to join me in reflecting and thinking about ways that we can help one another.  Ways that we can heal as a people and our planet.  To never again take what we have for granted.  

There is a lot going on, but our only priority should be to stay safe and be safe not just for you, but for those you love– A Hui Hou Kakou!