Homespun Honolulu

It looks like the rest of the evening will be made up of performances and remembrance speeches.

We have heard from very young keiki singing their little hearts out. There have been friends who flew in from the mainland just to be here.

Known entertainers have gotten up and said their farewells and sung a song that they felt Don would have liked them to sing.

For those familiar with the local scene, the following names are just a few of those present to send Don off in style, Hawaiian style:

The Brothers Cazimero, Marlene Sai, Jimmy Borges, Iva Kinimaka, Sam Kapu, former Governor George Ariyoshi, Mayor Mufi Hanneman, Melveen Leed, Willie K, Ed Brown (in from Los Angeles) and others whom I either missed, don’t remember or don’t know. A lot.

Aloha, Don! You will be missed and your memory will never die — not with all this love and with such an extended ohana!

You can see the lyrics and hear the audio by going here. They played this and “I Will Remember You” at the end of the private memorial service. How anyone could have been without tears at that point is beyond me! Even the mayor, they said, was choked up.

You can purchase this here. Ya gotta love Amazon at times like this!

One of the news casters told us that the chanter said that one of the canoes will probably huli (that’s to flip over) because that was Don’s sense of humor. Sure enough, one of the canoes got caught full of water and sinking!  Don is laughing.

I’m assuming that you guys are coming to see if there is information about the farewell services. I have no video but I can write updates as I see them on the live TV channel(s) here.

Hoku and one of her sisters, Don Ho’s daughters, sang at the private service. There was a nice sermon and a military gun salute. Don was a veteran. They played the recording that Don made — I will go find the link and post it in a minute.

The conch shells were blown, there was traditional Hawaiian chant, and people boarded the canoes. They then took his ashes out many others followed. People stood on shore watching. There were a lot of tears during the service, but I can only imagine what emotions were like out there on the ocean!

The last time a traditional Hawaiian memorial service like this was performed was for Duke Kahanamoku.

KHON Channel 2, bless their hearts, will be televising the services live during their newscast tomorrow evening.

If you are in the State of Hawaii, you should be able to catch this. I have tried to search for a live webcast for everybody else, but am yet to find one.

I will keep trying and post it as soon as I find anything.

Apologies to KHON for “borrowing” their lovely artwork. Please tune in if you are able!

In all fairness, KGMB Channel 9 will be doing the same and they will have extended coverage all the way to 10:00 tonight.

Don Ho Dies on April 14, 2007

Don was 76 and died today of heart failure. I am stunned by this news. They called him a “Living Legend” but now he’s gone. Don was a Hawaiian icon — one that most of us grew up with. Talk about a way to burst a person’s Tiny Bubbles!

I grew up with that song from the time I was only three or four years old. Our babysitter would play it and we would sing along. I never knew what the lyrics meant. I always wondered how bubbles could “make you warm all over” if you were all wet.

As I got older, I finally figured out that the bubbles were the ones in the wine, not the bubble bath. You know, like the ones in soda? I still couldn’t figure out how you would keep warm that way. Um, I guess I should mention that I get it now.

Don Ho, left, is pictured here with Engelbert Humperdinck, center, and Hawaii’s local entertainer, Rod Young in a photo taken one January evening in the early ’80’s at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Yes, that is Engelbert, I was there when this photo was taken.

I was happy to find out from KHON Channel 2 News that Don was here in Honolulu and at home when it happened. He was rushed to Queen’s Hospital where he died at 10:30 am. I’m glad he was here at home; I don’t think he would have wanted to be anywhere else.

Aloha, Don, thank you for all the memories you left for locals and for so many visitors over the years! CNN has posted details and a nice write-up and photo compliments of The Associated Press.

You know those times in your life when you flip out? There are times in life when something triggers your brain to behave… differently. Well, mine did just that a couple of years ago. Some of us seek comfort in food (like me), some of us look to nature for quiet contemplation (like me), some of us like to walk in the rain (like me), and some of us are just plain weird (like me). I found a new source of fascination and relaxation - the cemetery.

I told you I flipped out. Of course it does help to have a fascinating one nearby.

I was completely ignorant of any kind of historic significance or stories of interest in connection with any of our cemeteries, except for Punchbowl cemetery of course. I mean, let’s face it, that’s not something people talk about very often. I was ignorant about just what a treasure a cemetery can be. Ignorant that is, until I got my hands on a copy of “Oahu Cemetery, Burial Ground & Historic Site” by Nanette Napoleon Purnell.

As I thumbed through the pages of the book with mild curiosity, I stumbled onto the story of Gil Jamieson, a young boy kidnapped, murdered and buried at the cemetery in 1928. He was only ten. I was suddenly taken back to my childhood when Mom said, “Don’t ever go with anyone in an automobile of any kind - even if they say they say that I have been hurt and they are going to take you to see me.” She said that same line to us so many times as we were growing up, along with the usual “don’t take candy from strangers” thing. So THAT’S why she kept saying that! Now I know why.

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