A Moving Vacation Experience
Wednesday - July 02, 2008
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Del.icio.usDear Pamela,
I must show my appreciation to the young man who found my pocketbook at Ala Moana Park. My sister and I had come to Honolulu from Oakland to see the Floating Lantern ceremony. Our father passed away last year and he and my mother liked to come to Hawaii to play golf. We thought we would honor their memory by placing flowers in the water. In the excitement and emotion of the moment, I must have dropped my pocketbook somewhere in the sand.
When we got back to the hotel, the desk clerk said she had a package for me. It was an envelope with my wallet inside!
There was a note from “Kawika” saying he and his wife had found it. He called my home phone in Oakland and my son told him what hotel I was staying at. Our evening was complete. We said goodbye to my dad and then we were embraced with the aloha spirit. Thank you, Kawika, and all the people who put on such a beautiful ceremony. We were very moved.
Helena McNamara
Oakland
Dear Helena,
Shinnyo-En Hawaii and Na Lei Aloha Foundation thank you for your kind words. “Lantern floating is a shared experience,” says Roy Ho, executive director of Na Lei Aloha. “It is teaching without words. Just being there, watching the lanterns float by, you begin to truly understand its meaning. No matter the reason for attending, each person receives a quiet moment of self-reflection, remembrance and peace.”
Aloha Pamela,
I would like to thank Dr. Dean Hu from Kaiser Permanente and all the staff in the eye surgery room for the superb care they provide to their patients. I have worked in the medical field for the past 24 years and just decided to take early retirement to pursue my activities that I enjoy.
Unfortunately, I had cataracts. I remember on my last checkup date I left Kaiser in tears not knowing who would be giving me my vision back and when would that take place. To my surprise I was called by Joy, Dr. Hu’s assistant, who helped answer my questions and assured me Dr. Hu is a good doctor. I was apprehensive about trusting my eyes to someone I had never seen and who had never seen me. Well, from our first meeting I felt like I had nothing to worry about. I felt safe and had no doubt for a second that my eyes were in the best hands. This is not just to say thank you for the surgery, but also for the superb care and service that makes an individual feel safe and trusting. Thank you for the great bed side manner and the smiling faces that reassure patients when they need it the most. Thank you Dr. Dean Hu, Dr. Catherine Bender, Dr. Won-Yee Cheng, Joy and the staff in the operating room, whose names I cannot remember.
Rita Albina
Kailua
Dear Rita,
“As a whole, we feel privileged and take pride in being able to restore sight to the many people we encounter,” says Dr. Dean Hu, chief of Kaiser’s Ophthalmology Department. “Their positive reactions and, at times, public remarks serve as reminders of the role we play in improving the quality of life for Hawaii’s people.” Your Kaiser O.R. angels are: ophthalmic assistant Joy Arizumi, R.N.s Dierdre Porter, Becky Montgomery, Betty Mochizuki, Betty Uyehara, Charlotte Uyeunten and nurse anesthetist Celia Moore.
(If you know someone who deserves some Applause, send your letters to Pamela Young, MidWeek Applause, KITV, 801 S. King St., Honolulu, HI, 96813 or e-mail pyoung@kitv.com. Include your name, phone number and, if possible, the phone number of your “applaudee” so we can contact him or her.)
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