Tai Joe, my outgoing grandfather, greeted the New Zealand family. Like us, they were enjoying a picnic at Wailoaloa Beach. He offered them drinks from our coconut and swapped stories with the family’s father, Alan. A lifelong friendship was born.
Until their passing, years apart, Tai Joe and Alan remained friends. Alan and his family spent their school holidays with us at our small village house. We ate together and played together. And every Sunday, we’d march off to church.
Diane, Alan’s widow, celebrated her 80th birthday this February. We still write to each other. Diane’s monthly newsletters recount her trips, gardening mishaps and craft projects. She types them up, prints them and mails them to me. Each quarter she sends me a copy of the devotional, The Word For Today.
She remembers my birthday, and always sends me a gift with her pretty handmade cards. She’s gifted me Oswald Chambers’s ‘My Utmost For His Highest’ and embroidered bookmarks.
The greatest gift is her friendship. A friendship first forged by two loving family men. A friendship that endures beyond their lifetime.
God bless you, Diane, my dear friend.
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