So this morning I tried to explain to Kalea that she is Hawaiian. It didn't go very well. She said, "No mommy, I'm Ka-lay-ya". I said, " I know you're Kalea but you're also Hawaiian". She became very distraught by this fact and obviously did not want to accept this dual description of herself. Even after I told her she was Hawaiian like mommy, it was not something she was willing to grasp. Maybe I'll give it a little bit longer before trying to explain this fun fact to her.
One day she'll find out how COOL it is to be Hawaiian. I remember little things like my dad waking me up to a song by Don Ho called "Sweet Leilani" in the morning. I remember going to my Tutu's house out in California and learning little bits here and there. Seeing my cousins dance the hula and tahitian dance also, hearing the Ukelele for the first time, trying Poi for the first time, my Tutu can also remember where he was in Hawaii during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These feelings of love for everything Hawaiian flows in my blood like nothing else. Sometimes it is hard to live so far from my roots. There are days that I feel more "hawaiian" the others. I would love to teach my girls the things they should know about their culture and heritage. Because I have a feeling one day our polynesian blood is just going to get thinner and thinner and will one day be lost.
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