LEO 'ELELE - TRUSTEE MESSAGES

She was a Lady with 'Inner
Spirit. Inner Strength.'

Robert K. Lindsey, Jr. Trustee, Hawai'i

Today is May 11th, 2008, Mother's Day. In days gone by at our Church in Waimea on Mother's Day, if your mom was living you were given a red carnation upon entering the sanctuary. If she wasn't, you got a white one. If we had been on our best behavior we could sit to the far back of the church. Total anonymity was the preferred scenario. “Out of sight. Out of mind.” Sometimes we'd trip and fall. Our mom believed in swift justice. On those occasions, we had to sit in the second or third row for all the kūpuna to see. When we were kolohe, we were not only in trouble with God but with “Māmā.” That's what my brother and I called our Mom, who was a tiny lady. She was around 4 feet 8 inches tall and weighed no more than 90 pounds. Because she felt she had been dishonored, embarrassed is more like it, my ear as well as my brother's, sometimes the right one, sometimes the left, would be in severe pain. No painkiller would have helped soothe our “sore ear.” I'm surprised we still have ears. It was the same sermon year after year. Kahu would pitch the virtues of “wahinehood” and motherhood. After the service, we'd feast on a potluck lunch prepared by our dads for our moms and for us. There was always heaps of fried chicken, rice, poi, potato and macaroni salad, the best beef and tripe stew in all Hawai'i, vanilla cake and Malolo syrup juice. Our church is 'Imiola, the yellow one in the corner on Waimea's Church Row. 'Imiola Church was founded by Lorenzo Lyons, Makua Laiana, the lyric poet and the author of Hawai'i Aloha.

Today is May 11th, 2008, Mother's Day. My wife and I have brought flowers to place on my mom's grave situated in the cemetery next to the Church she loved and which was her Pu'uhonua for many years. The mind is an amazing vessel. On this comfortable Waimea day, many memories of my Mom come flashing forward. She was just 58 when she died in 1974. Born and raised in Hilo 'Ākau, she was full Hawaiian. But she did not distinguish between big “N” and small “n” Hawaiians. There was no difference to her. We are all Akua's children. She always thought her maiden name was Puakela. When she qualified for Social Security she discovered it was Kapuakelanu'u. She was born in Hakalau, attended Kalaniana'ole School in Pāpa'ikou, married our dad and moved to Waimea in 1946. Our mom spoke fluent Hawaiian. Hawaiian was her first language and the Hawaiian she spoke was very musical. I remember when she and my uncles and aunties sat around visiting; the kūkākūkā was accompanied by a lot of laughter. Her Faith was intense. Except for when she was hospitalized in 1960 for several months, I don't remember her missing a day of Church. She had a beautiful voice, played the 'ukulele and loved to sing Hawaiian hymns. She believed in Education. Education in her view was one's passport to “The Good Life.” In our house you could stay up as late as you wanted as long as you were reading a book. She was so proud when my brother and I got into Kamehameha. She was even prouder when we graduated. I have few regrets and can count them on one hand. The major one being I chose “not to walk” when I graduated from UH-Mānoa. I was the first from her side of the family to graduate from college. She would have loved to be amongst the crowd at Andrews Amphitheatre in June 1970. She was a disciplinarian. Our mom did not spare the rod. In fact in our biased view she used the rod more than was necessary. Life was simple in our corner of Hawai'i. The stool upon which we sat had five legs: Church, School, Home, 'Ohana and Work. Her mantra was “No Work, No Eat.” There was no such thing as a “free lunch.” If you wanted something you had to work for it. You had to earn it. And finally and amazingly, our Mom had a view on Sovereignty. For her it was something called “Inner Spirit. Inner Strength.” If one is strong, sure and secure inside one's self, one can achieve anything and be anything. For her there was no such thing as a “Mission Impossible.” Thus on the topic of Sovereignty and specifically the “Nation within a Nation Model,” her concept of Nationhood was not confined to the borders of a geographically defined space. For her, a Nation is a spiritual space. Sovereignty is inside one's being, one's self. In her view if within each of us there resides a Great Spirit (for her it was Akua), a positive attitude, an informed and inquiring mind, a forgiving heart, aloha for our families, neighbors and community, our Hawaiian Nation will be forever and forever strong.

I wish all of our moms wherever you are a very Happy Day. Mother's Day is every day.