Kahuku High School 25th Reunion - Class of 93

On my social media accounts, I have been mentioning that I am going to Las Vegas soon. It's my 25th High School Class Reunion. I went to Kahuku High School, a little school on the north shore of O'ahu. I love my hood and my classmates. We really are a tight bunch. Seeing everyone on Facebook, I'd say that we all pretty much look the same - just a little older and a little wiser. When did we get so old? I am just ready to chill and DO NOTHING or EVERYTHING. Hang out. Turn up. Shop. Sleep in. Stay up late. Gamble. Spa pampering. Catch a few shows. Sip margaritas by the pool.

I don't know the last time I went to Vegas without a "chaperone". Meaning -- no parents, no husband, no boyfriend. It's just me and my bestie and all the classmates that will be there. I don't expect to go to all of the planned activities but I will try to make the ones I can. I suppose this is my Girl's Trip for this year.

Last year I went to San Jose, California where a bunch of us girls converged and partied and hung out. We were actually there for a wedding. We partied until it was time to get on the plane. Whewww... Dancing til 2'ish then breakfast at Matrix Casino to end the night had me almost missing my flight. Thankfully, I did make it just by the skin of my teeth. I expect to have the same adventures this time around.

I feel like I had my core group of friends in high school but that I was friendly with everyone. I hate the idea of cliques. I was a nerd meaning I attended the GT classes in intermediate and then AP classes when I got to high school. No one would have guessed that of me, I bet. I was an athlete. I played volleyball my freshman year in high school then moved to a private league for the rest of high school. I was on the Track & Field team and went to States all three years. My senior year, I was the State shot-put champion. So funny to think of it now. I so did not want to be at that track meet in Maui because our May Day program was happening at the same time back on O'ahu and I was missing it. For some strange reason, I was a football statistician for the Varsity squad, my senior year. I guess that's why I'm still so comfortable being on the football field on game nights. I was involved in everything. Student government, student activities, yearbook co-editor, blah blah blah... and I cherished my years at Kahuku High School. I don't know how many people can say that about high school. And I know there were some people that did not have a good experience and I can only hope that I did not contribute to their bad experiences. Some of my closest friends I have known since we were in diapers and I am still in touch and close with my friends from high school.

And even though many of us (my classmates) did not hang out regularly in high school, I bet we have so much more in common now. 25 years of life experiences is a whole lot of learning and growing and hopefully finding peace and love in our hearts. I know I have been through so many changes and the one thing that I am so certain of today is that I love people, unconditionally and without judgement -- at least I try to. And I know that it's possible to love humanity unconditionally because I love myself unconditionally. I don't need anyone to approve of who I am or who I am becoming because I accept myself in my totality, flaws and all.

So my wish for my classmates, as we converge on Sin City, is that we remain healthy and full of love. That our trials will turn to triumphs all the time! That our hearts will be soft in a world that wants us to be hard. That we remember our friendships from the past and create new bonds for the future. Hugs and sunshine kisses everyone!!!

Family History & Reunions

Everyone who knows me well knows how much I love to do family history. Last summer I ran a family reunion for my mothers side. It wasn't as well attended as I thought it should be but I take full responsibility for not having planned out anything that seemed appealing to all the different age groups. The more I do these kinds of family events, the better I become at planning and executing activities on a large scale. My mother has 9 siblings that are still alive. There were 17 altogether. Seems like the only people that make families that large are featured on TLC, as anomaly's. From the 9 siblings, each have at least 4 kids. Most have more than 6. We are a typical Polynesian family, in size. The story of how such a large family came to be is quite interesting to me and is the driving force behind my love for family history/ genealogy.


A small sampling of my mothers side during our reunion in July '08.

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 selected, as the theme of the reunion, e ho'i i ka piko. There is no appropriate English translation. The English language is limited in it's explanation of olelo Hawai'i. The closest translation that I was able to gather from different olelo Hawai'i experts is that e ho'i ka piko means to return to the source of your existence; to return to your ancestors, to your roots; to return to your center. I find it appropriate that our first reunion be centered around us returning "home".

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

Family Reunion... Accomplished!

Well, I made it back from my family reunion -- all safe and sound and snuggly. I'm so glad to be home. I have realized that I'm such an island girl. The idea of being landlocked disorients me. I need to be near the ocean... near the Pacific ocean.

The family reunion was a total success. No contention. No drama. No complaining about activities. It was GREAT! We were small in numbers considering the number of people in our family but it was a great turn out, this being our first reunion.

Husband and I were able to spend time with his children. They flew up to meet us. So that made me an instant mother for the weekend. It was a different experience. One that I would have to blog about in-depth. I will get around to that as soon as I get over the jet lag. The kids look like my husband and according to him, could pass as ours. The children had a blast meeting with their cousins and I enjoyed seeing them mix and mingle with the family. It was funny how husband and I were so stupid at parenting. Breakfast? He and I ALWAYS skip it and we shouldn't have made the kids skip it also but leave it to us to be stupid parents. LOL. As I stated before -- I will blog more about it later.

All the events and activities went off just as cousin and I had planned them. My cousin... the girl in this picture was my co-planner for this reunion. I'm so excited that she's getting stationed here in Hawai'i. She's an officer, excuse me -- a captain, in the U.S. Army and I couldn't be prouder of her. Her skills as a leader translated into the execution of this reunion. Hallelujah!! So this is my plug for her because she's single, successful and looking for Mr. Right. She grew up in southern Georgia and is now making her way to Hawai'i for the next 3 years. Any takers? LOL... Of course this is a picture of her looking a little rough -- but still beautiful as ever.

The food was alright -- nothing extravagant. We settled on the next reunion being in Hawai'i in 2011. Consequently, that means I'm planning it again and so is my cousin since she'll be here in Hawai'i as well. She and I swore up and down that it wouldn't be us again. The one good thing is that we'll be planning it here in the state we reside. Yayy!! My resources are so much more broad here in Hawai'i than anywhere else. I'm pretty excited about planning it for 2011. That gives me three whole years to work some magic.

One of my goals for this year was to bring this reunion to completion. It happened. Now I'm done and on to my next project... release 50 pounds. Monday, August 4th -- I begin my journey toward releasing 50 pounds FOREVER!

Family Reunion

We leave for a family reunion in a week. It is a reunion of my mothers siblings. She has 9 of them that are still alive. I planned the whole sha-bang from here in Hawai'i. Isn't that funny? I don't know how I did it but I did... thanks to the help of one of my dearest cousins. She and I work really well together. The funny thing is that I picked on her like crazy when we were little. Now... she's one of the very few women that KNOW me, inside out. LOL..

I'm pretty excited. Here's the rundown of events:

Friday, July 25th
630pm DINNER -- I have a few activities lined up.... more like Ice Breakers. That should get us to 730 when we have our talent show. I can't wait to see what's going to be done! I have prizes for the following categories:
Funniest Skit
Best Costumes
Most Participants from a family
Most UNIQUE Talent
Straight from the BUSH -- talent judged on authenticity to village life
*****
By 830, we should be ready to dance the night away.

Saturday, July 26th
We have a Barbecue/Sports Day. We've organized some games for anyone who is brave enough to play. I'll also have dominoes and cards and a few other board games for the old heads.

Sunday, July 27th
CHURCH!! Immediately after -- family picture.
I'm trying to squeeze in brunch sometime that day but I'm not sure if the funds will stretch that far. We'll see.

Monday, July 28th
Devotional @ my Grandmother's grave followed by a final day of fun at the local rec center.

Sounds like fun to me and I'm really excited. We have t-shirts also. Wish me luck that everything will run accordingly!!! Woooohoooo!!

FOXTV: Reunion

I rarely watch TV. However, I do love a good story.

I used to be the BIGGEST fan of all the CSI shows until I started predicting the plot. I'm sure many of us do that. For me, that's my que to exit stage left. LOL... If I find myself watching the boob tube, you'll find me on the food network... duh! A big girl loves to watch food being prepared. I call it the boob tube cause that's all you see on TV nowadays... boobs, tits, breasts... whatever you wanna call it. Lord knows that a woman is so much more than that.

Sometimes I'll catch an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I also love the makeover shows on TLC. Trading Spaces, Clean Sweep, While You Were Out, What Not to Wear... you get the idea. Transformation is fun to watch.

This brings me to, what will hopefully be, my addiction for the fall TV lineup. REUNION!!!! The premiere was on Thursday and I missed it. Lucky for me, Fox had an encore showing this evening. So where do we begin? In case you didn't visit the website and have no intention of watching the show along with me, the blurb from the website states:

In 1986 they were the best of friends. By 2005 one will be murdered. All will be suspects.....The new show where every episode is another year. And every year reveals another step in solving the mystery of the murder between high school friends. The six characters age from 18 to 38 in the course of one television season.

I think the ENTIRE premise of the show is brilliant.

FOX has really stepped up their fall lineup. They have some really good shows. Last season... HOUSE was my Tuesday night addiction. I was hooked on North Shore for a minute but that show got cancelled. The absence of 'ethnicity' buggs me out but well, I can't really do anything about it UNTIL I actually own a broadcasting company. LOL... am I wrong? Even if I boycott the station, there are still millions of others that ARE watching it.

Back to this new show, REUNION. Has any other network tried this format? Most shows create the crime and solve it in one episode. Reunion has created JUST ONE crime and has written a whole seasons worth of shows to solve it. So we get to witness all these different stories with these six characters. Click for a RECAP.

I absolutely adore the character of WILL. He's the son of a landscaper and his best friend happens to be a REALLY rich kid. Will goes to jail for Craig for vehicular manslaughter.

The REALLY rich kid is Craig. He seems like he's a good enough kid but you just KNOW that he'll be as manipulative as his father is. Go figure.

Aaron is heading off to MIT and he is in love with the resident whore, Jenna. Aaron is a virgin but Jenna deflowers him before the episodes end.

Carla is in love with Aaron. Her mother died when she was 11 and she was very ANGRY. Her best friend is Samantha... who is Craig's girlfriend... but she's pregnant from WILL.

The writers did an EXCELLENT job of blasting us with six intriguing characters. Six friends, a thousand stories and the stories are happening in the relationships. I can't wait til next Thursday.

I rarely watch TV. However, I do love a good story.