Homespun Honolulu

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.

Read the rest of this entry »