Puna

my dear great-grandma passed on yesterday in hawaii. we got the call early in the morning. she collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital where they said they would need to do surgery. they said because of her age, she would probably be left a vegetable. my aunty decided against the surgery and puna passed on a couple hours later. she was 97.

the things i will remember about puna is that she was always very strong-willed/stubborn. she never let her age keep her from doing what she wanted. i learned from my mom that my dad made the mistake of calling her an "old" lady and she gave him the scolding of his life. plus, it took a whole month before she forgave him. did i mention she was stubborn? a strong Pane'e trait that runs in the family! she always knew best and was very observant. she gained a lot of wisdom through her years and liked sharing it... sometimes pretty loudly! she really did care about all of her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. when i moved to utah at a young age and went back for visits, i thought i would get special treatment since i wasn't always around. um, no. i got the same lectures and scolding as everyone else. it was always like we never left. i have the fondest memories of family gatherings at her house in the backyard. the uncles & grandpa trying to cut back her lichee tree and her yelling at them not to ruin it. she had the best stories about my dad--you know, the ones he probably didn't want me to hear about.

we always make an effort to visit puna & aunty lani every time we go down for a visit. this past visit was a busy one and we saw her the day before we left. she told us not wait so last minute to see her when we come down again. it makes me sad that she won't be there when we go back for christmas. this last visit we talked about how i liked to read and she told me to keep on reading. she said she always read before she went to bed (pointed to her head) and said that was why her mind was still strong. she was still quick as a whip at 97. she was a feisty, stubborn lady and we loved her dearly. my kids are lucky to have been able to know their great-great-grandma. it's just too bad they probably won't remember her. she'll be missed!

she kept wanting to carry brayden around and everyone kept telling her he was too heavy for her. she didn't listen. she still carried him around. i think he was around 8 months...


i was barely pregnant with ani in this picture...


again, puna insisting on carrying the babies around. ani was around 5 months...


bray was three & ani was around 9 months...