When I first moved to Maui, I didn’t really know anyone. Ron had lived here years before I met him, so he had built-in friends who also became my friends. Because Ron was dealing with health challenges, I didn’t start making friends of my own, but I realized I was falling into deep relationships gradually and organically. We have a cottage on our property, and we encouraged a friend of ours from the mainland, Shena, to move with us and live there. Shena is gregarious, easily making new friends and bringing them in to our new Ohana.
We were thrilled to meet all our neighbors who are now close friends. And when we had an abundance of tropical fruit growing in our garden, we created Produce Share which has met at my house on Fridays from five to six for seven years now so we can all share what we are growing in our gardens. And I started taking exercise classes and art classes and met even more friends. I discovered that friends on Hawaii are different from friends I had before I moved here.
Friendships on Hawaii are filled with the Aloha spirit. This online definition embraces this spirit: “Aloha” is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. “Aloha” means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowable.”
Naturally when friends come together, they become “Ohana” which is the Hawaii word for family. We all are members of at least one Ohana, and often we are members of several.
The awareness that I became a part of the Ohana that formed around Ron and I when we moved here was profound, wrapping me with love, comfort, and support. During and after Ron’s final days, my Ohana lifted me up allowing me to know I was not alone and that I was deeply loved.
I am recovering now from a malady that wasn’t specifically diagnosed but left me weak and without appetite. My Ohana, which also reaches to friends on the mainland, took care of me. While I was weak and mostly sleeping, they assured I had transportation for appointments, food to eat, and the medical care I needed. One dear friend even combed the knotty mass my hair had turned into from spending so much time in bed, which was no easy task. Other friends facilitated the meetings I usually did.
Today as I reflect on the Aloha spirit and my Ohana, I am deeply grateful, and I invite you to join my Ohana and discover or develop the Ohana you are already a part of. I consider our Grief and Happiness Alliance and Nonprofit Organization one of the Ohanas I am a part of which also has members that overlap into other Ohanas I am part of.
When your life is centered on family (chosen or not) and love, Aloha and Ohana brings great happiness into your life.
Who is your Ohana?
You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking here.
You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:
You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking here
You can order the International Best Selling book in 9 countries that I wrote a chapter in, Ignite Forgiveness, by clicking here
