Dear
Family .... and so begins the first chapters of Dear Family, a familiar epistle
on unfamiliar territory. I am testing out new site on familiar stomping grounds
for Dornbrau. Enjoy!
Dear Family, last month was dedicated to
reorganizing my craft room. YES, I have a CRAFT ROOM. Anyway, it brought tears
to my eyes. Not due to allergens, but due to the Ohana Reunion Autograph book
that appeared amongst my craft supplies. Little Brother, YOU FORGOT TO SIGN MY
BOOK ! ! This week, my letters will be dedicated to this special time. I hope
that the four great grandbabies will have an opportunity to share photos and
journals with their own children.
Dear BF ... You were a real trooper
... you have a tremendous amount of patience for all I do. You are simply the
BEST. There is no way we could have pulled this off without your patience and
bank account. Thank you, I love you!
Dear Daughter, was this not so worth coming back to
Hawaii for? All the cousins finally meeting up, some for the first time! I am
sure the KUKU family appreciated you giving up your former room, and were
entertained by the massive bag decor. Thanks for all your help in preparations
baby!
Dear Oldest Son, thank you SO much for helping out with many
aspects, especially setting up! I KNOW some of your help away from the home was
purely so you could GET AWAY from us, ha!, but appreciated nonetheless. Wasn't
it cool to get the '84 brats together? And btw, Big Island Uncle and his family
sure appreciated the use of your former room ... come to think of it, Georgia
Aunty and Uncle appreciated the use of your OTHER room ... PTL for so many
rooms!
Dear Youngest Son, DEHYDRATION? Oh come on, who were you
kidding! Surely you could have come up with something less dramatic for
attention! HAHA ... Georgia cousin and husband thank you for giving up your
room, otherwise they would have had to sleep in the upstairs bathroom ... UGH!
Be safe Son, I LOVE YOU.
Dear Mom and Dad, though we all say this family
reunion was for the WHOLE OHANA, it was always aimed at making one person the
happiest .. MOM. Mom, your love (and cooking) will continue to bring us home.
Your happiness means the world to each of us. Dad, thanks SO much for providing
transportation to so many meetings and donating your Christmas $$. And, Thanks
for being soooooo, well, you know ... HO HO HO! Thanks for doing the footwork
and organizing much of the picnic and Christmas in July, and though plans
changed a number of times, it STILL managed to work out beautifully.
Dear Big Sister and Brother In Law, thanks for
getting so charged up with this reunion idea! I was so happy when we discovered
that all of Georgia were coming to the islands. Big Sister, you are so much
like yourmother, keeping up with the dishes and laundering linens for us, not
to forget stocking the fridge and pantry a bit!!! What can I say, you will
ALWAYS be my BIG SISTER. Thanks, you two, for making sure the whole family was
able to attend.
Dear Big SIS, you and baby sis both seemed to keep us all
excited with all the plans and ideas to make this event a blast. It was such a
success, mostly because we all parted with happy satisfied smiles that we were
all together once again! I would do this again ... now that we have experience
under our belts, we can steer away from bad ideas! One major problem, MIKE
didn't get married soon enough for Liz to join us! Anyway, a big hug and kiss
go with this Mahalo!
Dear Little Sis, Brother in Law and all the little
Kuku sweeties ... I LOVE AN UNSPOILED FAMILY! What a blast it was getting back
together, I wouldn't have traded these moments for anything in the world. All
the cousins got on famously, which is only something we could have hoped for, yet
a dream come true! No regrets, only great memories, and it ended all too soon.
Have the Kuku kids forgiven Aunty for MAKING them use their last few minutes at
the airport for signing books???? haha
Dear Little Brother and Sister in Law, OOGA
BOOGA! Brother, you forgot to sign my book!!! This reunion was SO much fun!
The children all fit right in, and EVEN OUR CRAZY SISTER IN LAW fits our family
... wow, what does that say for us? JUST KIDDING SISTAH! Mahalo BOTH of you
for pitching in with the yummy grinds!
Dear Baby Sis and Brother in Law,
you were a wonderful team! Brother in Law, thanks for giving up your home so
many times for planning meetings, and for the LUAU! GRRRRR Baby Sis, so many
times we had to change things, but the ending result was STILL ALWAYS warm and
wonderful! You kept us going with your excitement and enthusiasm with fresh
ideas of ways to make this the most memorable time for all. I CANNOT thank you
enough! The children sacrificed a lot too, MAHALO niece and nephews!!!
Once again, we are all on our separate paths. There are some
in O'ahu, some in Hawai'i, Colorado, Georgia, Alabama, Connecticut, New York,
Nevada?, and more recently, two in Iraq. I miss you all, and know that now when
tears roll down my cheeks, it's because I love and miss you all so
much.
