July 11, 2013, thru July 18, 2013

My first trip back after discovering that Mom had dementia was in July for Obon. This Buddhist celebration honoring the ancestors has always been an important part of Mom's life so I talked to her about meeting us in Kohala, where she was raised and where her parents are buried. Because she had talked about selling Grandma and Grandpa's house, I also wanted to spend time there to check out the house. I was thinking about buying it and wanted to find out how much work it needed.

We arrived in Kona in the afternoon about an hour before Mom. I went to pick up the rental car while Kai waited for her to arrive; the timing was perfect with very little waiting around. We had dinner in Waimea and did some grocery shopping. By the time we got to the house it was dark. The first thing we saw in the headlights as we pulled in to the garage was the old water heater, with a pair of vise grips rusted to the control knob and a big sign saying, "DO NOT ADJUST". Oh well, no hot shower tonight. And since everything in the house was covered in plastic because of the termite and gecko droppings, we had to clean up the house and 'unwrap' everything before we could sleep.

I was awakened the next morning by Mom yelling about not being able to turn the water off at the kitchen sink. Repair #1: replace handle for hot water faucet, solution: vise grips. On the plus side, we discovered that the water heater was working even if it did look very scary!

The gas stove looked pretty scary, too, so we made a couple pans out of foil and cooked some eggs and bacon in the toaster oven. It was sort of like camping indoors. Kai later found out that another toaster oven of the same era, which was almost twice as old as he was, was selling on eBay for $80! We discovered that the termites had been busy munching away; we had to carefully move chairs around to avoid punching holes in the floor.

Grandma raised anthuriums on the north side of the house; tree ferns provided the shade and proper microclimate for them to flourish. She had set everything up so well, even with no one caring for them for 20 years or so they were thriving. We cut a bunch of flowers to take to the cemetery along with the chochin to put up at the graves for Obon. While there Mom met up with a couple of old friends.

June, Sally, Mom

We had called Mom's cousin Doreen a few times to go over for a visit but were unable to reach them. When we called Doreen's daughter we found out she was in the hospital in Waimea. Mom thought that was too far to drop in to see her but it was only a 30 minute drive, which for us is not very far at all since we are used to it. When we got there Lem, Doreen's husband, was at lunch. He was very surprised to see us, but he knew Kai right away even though it had been 20 years since Lem had last seen him. Doreen also has dementia (she's much farther along than Mom); we made time to visit with her every day she was in the hospital since it seemed to cheer her up.

Halawa Camp, c. 1966

Mom had a great time at Obon that night, she saw even more old friends from Halawa Camp, where she was born and raised. Here is a map of Halawa Camp from the book, Kohala Aina. (The original family houses are in the upper left quarter of the map.)

While on the Big Island, we also went to visit other friends and relatives and do a little sightseeing since we had not been there for 20 years. We started out by going to see Uncle Kazu and Mrs. Keliikipi. I zipped right past Uncle Kazu's house because we were talking so much, so we decided to go see Mrs. Keliikipi first. As I turned down the dirt road to go to her house Mom said, "Where are you going? She doesn't live down this road." According to Mom, Mrs. Keliikipi moved out of that house "a long time ago", which turned out to be about 10 years earlier, so it was a "new" move to me! Fortunately her "new" house was right at the highway end of the dirt road. Mrs. Keliikipi was now nearly blind but still lived by herself; a grandson came by once a week from Kona to do grocery shopping and check on her.

Uncle Kazu still lived in the same house, I just missed it because all the trees and shrubs had grown so large I couldn't see the house. He had to have a leg amputated due to diabetes and was waiting to get a prosthesis; he now had a caretaker 24-hours a day. He was watching a John Wayne movie marathon on his big screen TV.

We also went to Laupahoehoe and Hilo. We visited my friend Pam who was renting a house in the hills above Laupahoehoe that was powered by alternative energy. Here's a photo of the solar panels and windmill. There is also a cistern for collecting water. She has an amazing view!

Laupahoehoe

On the way to Laupahoehoe and Hilo, we stopped in Waimea at our cousin Leilani's bakery.We picked up goodies to share as well as for future breakfasts while we stayed on the Big Island.

In Hilo, we visited with Mom's cousin Doris and her husband Tom. Mom had lived with Doris' family during high school to help Hilo Auntie (her mother's sister) with the 6 kids at the time (they had a total of 11 children). Hilo Auntie was a tailor and, prior to having her own children, would sew dresses for Mom from the scraps she saved from her work. Later, Hilo Auntie would sew matching hapi coats for her daughters and son who danced at many of the Big Island bon odori (dances done during Obon).

Because it had been 20 years since we had been to the Big Island, we did a very quick tour. We went to the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park one day. On another day we drove along the westerly portion of the Akoni Pule Highway, stopping at all the old fishing places I could remember. We also went down to the Upolu Airport, the first place I remember flying in and out of; I don't remember what the Honolulu end of the trip looked like when I was a kid, I don't even remember landing there. The road down to Upolu is now bordered by a wind farm, making use of the almost constant breezes that blow through the area.   

Hawi Wind Farm

We also visited Lapakahi State Historical Park. I remember visiting the park when we were last here in 1993. It is a restored Hawaiian village; you can take a self-guided tour along several trails through the area. At one of the stops there is an 'ulu maika course; we have old photos of Mom and Kai playing 'ulu maika. This time Mom made friends with the 2 State workers there while Kai and I walked one of the trails. One of the workers is married to Mrs. Keliikipi's granddaughter and the other one's mother was a classmate of Mom's brother, George; I wonder how many degrees away Mom is from Kevin Bacon?

On July 18th we went back to Honolulu with Mom.