Deep Aloha Daniel Inouye, Son of the Islands

A L O H A !

It's Been a tough week.

 Of course, the holidays are what they are.

Then the intolerable evil in Connecticut.  

Such shared, deep grief.  .  .

But then we in Hawaii 

suffered an unprecedented hurt,
somehow a very personal one, 

on deep and shallow levels.

 I can remember no shared,
 genuinely shared, grief

 like this passing of a
 giant leader,

 hero,

 beloved son of these islands.

The mood reminds me
of JFK's assassination
all those years ago.
Hawaii is in shock.

For most of us

he has ALWAYS

been with us,

protecting us.

Watching average Hawaii folks

 wait in line, 

to file past his flag draped coffin

 for 7 hours Saturday night,

was really moving.

Dignitaries, like these Hawaiians of
Royal Societies
 pay respects to an honorary member
and friend.

When tall soldiers moved the coffin

out of the State Capitol

at midnight

over 100 citizens

still waited in line

to pay their

respects.

Watching the preparations
for his Sunday funeral
from my window

[over in the national cemetery
 at Punchbowl Crater]

I feel a loss, an emptiness larger

 than one family's loss. 

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
[ LINK ]
[ shot from my window ]

Hawaii feels hollow,

uncertain today. 

Crack of 19 cannons in salute,
one less than a
president gets.
 I shot the smoke
rising. . . . 

Since statehood 

till this month,

was the Dan era.

This must have been

what it was like

back in earlier times

when

 a much loved king
passed into
history.

Missing Man Formation

After the ceremony,
President Obama & Michelle
visited the grave of 
Stanley Dunham,
Barack's grandfather
who helped to raise 
our President.
Mr. Dunham was
a WWII veteran
like Dan Inouye.
Several of Uncle Dan's
wartime comrades
attended.






mmmmmmmmmm