Mom Meets Ellie's Relatives

Mom had a great day meeting with her friend Eleanor's relatives, some of whom are here visiting for a reunion of 70 or so family members tomorrow. Ellie's granddaughter Dynke, her husband Jens, and sons Johan & Aksel are visiting from Denmark. They arrived in Hawai'i about 3 weeks ago and were actually on the Big Island almost the same time we were; but they were in Hilo on the east part of the island and we were in the north end. Dynke brought a bunch of photos of Ellie in Denmark and also some of herself when she & Ellie visited Hawai'i when she was 11 years old.

Mom & Dynke

While we were there, Ellie's sister Sally and Sally's daughter Ann came in with relatives from Okinawa. Suruya & Junko had just arrived from the airport and were on their way to their hotel.

L to R: Junko, Mom, Suruya, & Sally.

All this happened at Paul & Yvonne's home in Kailua. Paul is Ellie's sister Betty's oldest son. He is also the oldest of the cousins, while Ann is the youngest of the cousins. It turns out Ellie actually passed away in 1991, not in 1951 or so as Mom had told me.

Here's what I learned today: Ellie is one of 7 sisters; in order they were Betty, Lorraine, Tsureko, Sally, Eleanor, June, & Nancy. After their mother died in childbirth with Nancy, the sisters were adopted out to other family members but still remained close. Ellie & Mom were roommates in Honolulu either part way through the war or shortly after; they lived at 808 Alder for a couple of years until Ellie moved to Maine for college. When they were roommates, Mom & Ellie would frequently get on the bus to go to Kailua to the homes of Ellie's sisters Betty & Lorraine. While on the east coast Ellie met her husband and they moved back to his native Denmark, where she worked at the Japanese embassy. Ellie had a son & a daughter, Dynke is the daughter of Ellie's son. Dynke had lunch with Ellie about once a week, they went to a Japanese restaurant close to her school. I also learned that Jens is a runner and participated in this year's Honolulu Marathon, finishing in about 4 hours. Congratulations, Jens!

Sally told us that Mom was one of her bridesmaids because Ellie was in Denmark and Nancy was at Leahi Hospital with tuberculosis. I found out that Mom & Dad lived in the basement of Sally's home in Kalihi when they were first married. I knew that I lived somewhere other than Grandpa's house during my first year but did not know it was Sally's house. I actually have one very vivid memory of looking down a steep driveway at that house. Ann shared with us that she drove a car down that driveway and hit the wall when she was learning how to drive. Sally still lives in that house and she and Mom talked about getting together again. I would really like to take Mom back to Sally's house and see if what I remember is what is really there!

Happy Birthday to Noel & Rae! Happy 4th Anniversary to Brienne & Dawn!