Heath and I have been fortunate enough to spend the past 7 days vacationing on the beautiful island of Kauai with my family. We absolutely love it here! Tomorrow we will be leaving to spend the rest of our vacation on Oahu, but I must say, I'd rather stay here! It's paradise. The weather, the mountains, the beaches... everything is perfect. This island in particular is very important to my family. My mother's mother was born here, along with her immediate family and most of their ancestors (making me 1/8 Hawaiian!). Tonight we were able to have dinner at my Great Auntie Noreen's house, with her and her husband Paul. Even though we have spent the week doing so many fun things, tonight was probably one of my favorite moments of our vacation. I have found that family lineage and heritage is extremely important to the Hawaiian people, and that being a part of Hawaiian ancestry is something to be proud of. Tonight during dinner, Auntie Noreen and Uncle Paul told us story after story about the wonderful people that I am so proud to be related to. I feel that it is crucial that I record these stories so that some day I might be able to tell my children about their relatives. Forgive me if there are holes in the details of these stories... I'm definitely not the story teller that they are, and I'm going off very simplified notes I took on my phone while they were talking. I tried to get every detail I could so I could keep these stories alive! (read all the way to the end... my favorite story is very last).
MY GREAT GRANDPA OHAI
My great grandpa Ben Ohai (my mother's mother's father) was an extremely great man. Growing up we would go visit him in Norwalk, California, in his little old house across the street from the 99 Cent Only Store, with his broken down trailer in the driveway. He was a fantastic bowler, an amazing pianist, and one of the funniest old men you would ever meet. When he was in his 40's or 50's, he had a brain tumor, and when it was removed the nerves in his face were damaged. One side of his mouth has been stretched into a slight smile for as long as I have known him, giving him a crooked mouth. But that is only one of the things about my grandpa Ohai that I will love forever. Tonight, I learned that he was an extremely smart man. He was a fisherman, a pilot, and a musician. He always had tons of television sets in their house that he would fix. When he was younger he built a satellite receptor so that he could steal the satellite reception from the next door neighbors. He was the first person in the world (according to my Auntie) to fly a plane above the ocean in search of schools of fish, so he could tell the boats below where to go. Grandpa Ohai was in California when World War II broke out, and the government wouldn't let anyone fly back to Hawaii, forcing him to stay in California. He worked for the army as a pilot testing new planes for the war. This was actually where he met my great grandmother. She was working for the army at the same time, although I'm not quite sure what her job was. Grandpa Ohai was also a music major at BYU. He had a difficult time playing what was written on the paper though. He found himself wanting to wonder off the page and continue the song in his own way. He could play almost any instrument. My Auntie remembers him playing the trumpet, the guitar, the bass guitar, the ukulele, and of course, the piano. In Hawaii, his family owned a night club that was purchased to help their grandmother, Tutu Lady, pay her bills. My grandpa Ohai would go to the night club and just sit and play the piano. My auntie said they would be there for hours while he played! But apparently everyone loved it, because the club was pretty famous on the island of Kauai.
MY GREAT GREAT UNCLE LEO
(This is where the stories get good)
Sadly, I've only met my Uncle Leo (Grandpa Ohai's brother) a few times. But I wish I have had more opportunities to know him. He has had quite the life! Uncle Leo was a fantastic athlete. When he was 17 years old, he would swim across the ocean from the island of Maui all the way to the island of Molokai, 30 miles away, dragging a net of fish behind him so that he could sell them and send his brothers to college! On Molokai, they would throw the dying donkeys off of the cliff into the ocean, causing the waters to become extremely shark infested. Yet he swam through the waters fearlessly, because the shark is the Ohai family guardian angel, or protector. He once killed a 350 lb. fish when he was spear fishing, setting some famous record on the island. All he had was a mask and a spear- no breathing apparatus. The fish was so big, that he had to wrestle it for an hour after he stabbed it to finally put it in a position for others to hull out of the water. When he would run out of air, he would swim to the surface, take a breath, and then go right back down to try and drag his fish out of the water. One time, when he was fishing on his boat, the rope for the anchor got caught on the propeller. He had to swim under the boat to cut the rope out. While he was down there, a deformed, strange-acting shark that had been following the boat started circling around him. When he started to swim to the surface for air, the shark all of the sudden attacked him. To make a smaller target of himself, he went from a vertical position in the water to a horizontal position, facing the shark, and stuck his arm right out, holding his knife as the shark was about to bite him. His arm was all the way inside the shark's mouth, but the knife must have stabbed him real good, because the shark never bit down on his arm. Instead, it just backed away. The shark's teeth still cut up his arm though. When he got back up to the boat, he smeared vapor rub all over the cuts and rapped it in a towel until they got to shore. He ended up getting hundreds of stitches.
MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE UNCLE LEO STORY
I've heard this story many times in my life, but I've never been told all the details until tonight. As I mentioned before, the shark is the Ohai family protector. Ohai's don't kill sharks (except for when they have to) or eat them. This particular story shows just how important sharks are to the Ohai family.
When my Uncle Leo was in his 40's, he was flying his plane from Ohau to Molokai, with about 45 miles between the two islands. He was flying his little one-engine, two-seater plane, when all of the sudden he heard a loud bang, and then saw the front propeller spin off and head right into the ocean. He landed his plane on the water, but the plane started sinking right away because of the weight of the wings on the top of the plane. He barely had time to open the door and get out before it was too late. He swam to the surface, took a quick breath, and then swam back down to the sinking plane in an attempt to get the emergency raft, lifejacket, and other supplies. But it was too far down. He was only able to make it to the wing of the plane before he had to swim back up for another breath. Leo was 5 miles from the coast of Oahu, and knew he had to swim. He knew the ocean so well though that he knew the currents would take him away if he tried to swim the 5 miles back to Oahu. He knew he had a better chance swimming the 40 miles to Molokai. So that's exactly what he did. He knew the general direction of the island, so he stripped down butt naked, and shoved the shreds of his underwear up his nose as plugs. It took him 2 days to swim all the way to Molokai. The police had given up the search for him, thinking that he was dead. But the sharks helped him, and he survived. They swam with him all the way there, and would rub up against him to keep him pointed in the right direction. He was so tired that, at the time, he didn't even care that they were pushing him. He just kept swimming. Noreen remembers receiving the article of a news paper about his supposed death while they were living in Germany, which she still has to this day. Leo's brother, Ben, my grandpa Ohai) knew that Leo wasn't dead. Even though he was missing, Ben said that he knew he was still alive. And sure enough, some horse back riders found Leo when he reached the shore and took him to safety. Leo says that when he could see the waves breaking on the shore of Molokai, he was only a few hundred yards away, yet he was so exhausted he felt he wouldn't make it. He said it felt like the ocean picked him up and spit him back out onto the beach. I can't even imagine what his experience must have been like!
MY GREAT GRANDPA OHAI
My great grandpa Ben Ohai (my mother's mother's father) was an extremely great man. Growing up we would go visit him in Norwalk, California, in his little old house across the street from the 99 Cent Only Store, with his broken down trailer in the driveway. He was a fantastic bowler, an amazing pianist, and one of the funniest old men you would ever meet. When he was in his 40's or 50's, he had a brain tumor, and when it was removed the nerves in his face were damaged. One side of his mouth has been stretched into a slight smile for as long as I have known him, giving him a crooked mouth. But that is only one of the things about my grandpa Ohai that I will love forever. Tonight, I learned that he was an extremely smart man. He was a fisherman, a pilot, and a musician. He always had tons of television sets in their house that he would fix. When he was younger he built a satellite receptor so that he could steal the satellite reception from the next door neighbors. He was the first person in the world (according to my Auntie) to fly a plane above the ocean in search of schools of fish, so he could tell the boats below where to go. Grandpa Ohai was in California when World War II broke out, and the government wouldn't let anyone fly back to Hawaii, forcing him to stay in California. He worked for the army as a pilot testing new planes for the war. This was actually where he met my great grandmother. She was working for the army at the same time, although I'm not quite sure what her job was. Grandpa Ohai was also a music major at BYU. He had a difficult time playing what was written on the paper though. He found himself wanting to wonder off the page and continue the song in his own way. He could play almost any instrument. My Auntie remembers him playing the trumpet, the guitar, the bass guitar, the ukulele, and of course, the piano. In Hawaii, his family owned a night club that was purchased to help their grandmother, Tutu Lady, pay her bills. My grandpa Ohai would go to the night club and just sit and play the piano. My auntie said they would be there for hours while he played! But apparently everyone loved it, because the club was pretty famous on the island of Kauai.
MY GREAT GREAT UNCLE LEO
(This is where the stories get good)
Sadly, I've only met my Uncle Leo (Grandpa Ohai's brother) a few times. But I wish I have had more opportunities to know him. He has had quite the life! Uncle Leo was a fantastic athlete. When he was 17 years old, he would swim across the ocean from the island of Maui all the way to the island of Molokai, 30 miles away, dragging a net of fish behind him so that he could sell them and send his brothers to college! On Molokai, they would throw the dying donkeys off of the cliff into the ocean, causing the waters to become extremely shark infested. Yet he swam through the waters fearlessly, because the shark is the Ohai family guardian angel, or protector. He once killed a 350 lb. fish when he was spear fishing, setting some famous record on the island. All he had was a mask and a spear- no breathing apparatus. The fish was so big, that he had to wrestle it for an hour after he stabbed it to finally put it in a position for others to hull out of the water. When he would run out of air, he would swim to the surface, take a breath, and then go right back down to try and drag his fish out of the water. One time, when he was fishing on his boat, the rope for the anchor got caught on the propeller. He had to swim under the boat to cut the rope out. While he was down there, a deformed, strange-acting shark that had been following the boat started circling around him. When he started to swim to the surface for air, the shark all of the sudden attacked him. To make a smaller target of himself, he went from a vertical position in the water to a horizontal position, facing the shark, and stuck his arm right out, holding his knife as the shark was about to bite him. His arm was all the way inside the shark's mouth, but the knife must have stabbed him real good, because the shark never bit down on his arm. Instead, it just backed away. The shark's teeth still cut up his arm though. When he got back up to the boat, he smeared vapor rub all over the cuts and rapped it in a towel until they got to shore. He ended up getting hundreds of stitches.
MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE UNCLE LEO STORY
I've heard this story many times in my life, but I've never been told all the details until tonight. As I mentioned before, the shark is the Ohai family protector. Ohai's don't kill sharks (except for when they have to) or eat them. This particular story shows just how important sharks are to the Ohai family.
When my Uncle Leo was in his 40's, he was flying his plane from Ohau to Molokai, with about 45 miles between the two islands. He was flying his little one-engine, two-seater plane, when all of the sudden he heard a loud bang, and then saw the front propeller spin off and head right into the ocean. He landed his plane on the water, but the plane started sinking right away because of the weight of the wings on the top of the plane. He barely had time to open the door and get out before it was too late. He swam to the surface, took a quick breath, and then swam back down to the sinking plane in an attempt to get the emergency raft, lifejacket, and other supplies. But it was too far down. He was only able to make it to the wing of the plane before he had to swim back up for another breath. Leo was 5 miles from the coast of Oahu, and knew he had to swim. He knew the ocean so well though that he knew the currents would take him away if he tried to swim the 5 miles back to Oahu. He knew he had a better chance swimming the 40 miles to Molokai. So that's exactly what he did. He knew the general direction of the island, so he stripped down butt naked, and shoved the shreds of his underwear up his nose as plugs. It took him 2 days to swim all the way to Molokai. The police had given up the search for him, thinking that he was dead. But the sharks helped him, and he survived. They swam with him all the way there, and would rub up against him to keep him pointed in the right direction. He was so tired that, at the time, he didn't even care that they were pushing him. He just kept swimming. Noreen remembers receiving the article of a news paper about his supposed death while they were living in Germany, which she still has to this day. Leo's brother, Ben, my grandpa Ohai) knew that Leo wasn't dead. Even though he was missing, Ben said that he knew he was still alive. And sure enough, some horse back riders found Leo when he reached the shore and took him to safety. Leo says that when he could see the waves breaking on the shore of Molokai, he was only a few hundred yards away, yet he was so exhausted he felt he wouldn't make it. He said it felt like the ocean picked him up and spit him back out onto the beach. I can't even imagine what his experience must have been like!