
My grandmother is buried in Orem, Utah. Although she spent most of her life in Vaitoloa, Samoa. After most of the children were out of her home, she emigrated to the United States, became proficient in English and became a U.S. citizen. She did it because it was easier to travel back and forth to Samoa. My mother, on the other hand, remains a citizen of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa) which is another blog entirely! lol...
I thoroughly admire my mother's mother and didn't appreciate her enough while she walked the earth. Oh how I wish I could speak to her again and extract from her all the knowledge she possessed in regards to natural healing. She had to make hard decisions for her family. After bearing 15 children, my grandfather was murdered and she was left alone to tend to all the children. Soon after, she remarried a Tongan man and bore two more children. He was eventually deported and once again, my grandmother was left alone. She allowed three of her children to be adopted by American missionaries. I'm glad to say that we are in touch with all of them. In fact, one of the daughters that was adopted out became the sole caretaker for my grandmother until she passed from complications from a stroke. The stories are endless and I am dedicated to telling it for future posterity by way of a book.
Right now I'm in the throws of planning a family reunion on my fathers side. For me, getting the family history together is the best part of the planning process. My fathers mother was also left a single mother, as she was widowed when tubercolosis took the life of my grandfather. She bore seven children. I'm sure it would have been more, had by grandfather survived his illness.
This is the first flier I designed for the reunion. The images are actual ancestors. My grandmother in the top left. Her husband, my grandfather on the bottom left. The couple to the far right are my grandmothers parents. What is interesting about that couple is that he is listed on the U.S. census as being Black, however he is 100% Hawaiian. The last two people are my grandmothers grandparents, parents to the woman of the couple to the far right.

I'm the second to the youngest grandchild and am the first to actually sit down and plan a reunion. Somebody has to do it. My husband has caught the bug and has started drumming up interest for his family to get a reunion going as well. Good luck to me that I may carry out this family reunion to fruition and that I may continue on my path of researching my family history. Genealogy tips are greatly appreciated!
**Photo Credit