How many of us actually know what it is we want to do in our lives and do it?  I hope the answer to this question is we all do.  In reality though, I think most of us get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to ask ourselves what it is we want and go for it.

Having lost my mom to ovarian cancer at a young age warped me somewhat.  I have always lived with the idea that I need to live like there is no tomorrow because there might not be one.  Some of my friends felt that I was pre destined to become ill because of this way of thinking and I always felt the same so I prepared myself, my family, and my friends for what may be inevitable.  You can’t fight genetics and after looking at our family history regarding breast and ovarian cancer I didn’t think I would beat the odds.  However, I could be prepared increasing my chances for survival and if I didn’t I’d know that I lived my life with no regrets.

One of the items on my “bucket list” was to ride in a parade in a Pa’u Unit.  My goal after chemo was once my hair was long enough to put up with no extensions was to ride.  I made inquires about finding a unit to ride with but there just didn’t seem to be anyone who wanted me.  I spoke with BJ Allen who runs the Kamehameha Floral Parade and she basically told me the only way would be for me to organize my own unit.   My older brother Reid, lovingly teased me while we were making lei the week before the parade, “I guess you weren’t wanted on any of the teams “units” so you made your own.”  My response was “Pretty much.”  LOL 

Once the decision was made that I would organize the Island of Kauai’s Pa’u Unit I needed lots of help.  Thank goodness for Kip and Melissa Kaopua.  Kip and I went to elementary school together and lost track of each other until I bought Shiloh.  Kip became my Ferrier.  When I discussed this desire with him he told me he would help me but wouldn’t ride.  This seemed to be a very common response.  He also mentioned that I would be thankful to have him on the ground the day of the parade because I needed someone who knew what was going on and could take care of things.  He was right.  His wife Melissa was amazing too and we’ll get to that later. 

Finding the riders was a challenge.  Anyone who had ridden before knew the amount of work involved and choose not to participate.  This is sad.  Understandable, but sad.  I was fortunate though, I found the best riders out there: Catherine “Cathy” Gilbert, Brendon Kanakaole, Kamaka Faborito, Terri Dinubilo, and Aawa Kamai. 

For the first three weeks after making the decision to ride I drove around suddenly aware of all the different colors of flowers and foliage surrounding me, trying to remember where everything was.  I felt like a child in a candy store for the first time.  I wanted to pick as much as we could and buy as little as we needed.  I wanted to embody the spirit of the parade from the beginning to the end. 

Well, lets just say I was freaked out on the third week and realized I was in way over my head.  I couldn’t remember where I saw what… didn’t know how long things would survive once picked, and couldn’t grasp the concept of “bundles”. 

Aawa to the rescue.  One day I was talking with Kip and mentioned that I was really beginning to freak out and didn’t know how to proceed.  Kip mentioned that Aawa was an amazing lei maker and very creative and could do what I needed.  BUT I had to ask him.  I’m sorry but I hate asking for help.  I’m a doer and will try hard to not bother others.  I guess this journey was going to teach me to ask for help when needed.  I sucked it up and made the call.  Aawa was so gracious and agreed with no hesitation.  He rattled off things I needed to order that we couldn’t pick and then asked the question, “Do you want the full experience?”  I nodded like the kid in the candy store again and said, “yes”.  He said, “Okay, book the flight to the Big Island for those in the unit that want to go a week out from the Parade and we go.”   

I was told to start putting the word out to friends and family with contacts on Kauai because we needed MOKIHANA, unique to the island of Kauai.  Mokihana only grows in the deep forests of Kauai and usually hunters and serious hikers will come across it.  I put the word out. 

In the meanwhile, I found something on our ranch that surprisingly resembled the Mokihana on a weed type plant that had lots of thorns that pierced leather gloves, had tiny hairs on the branches that once in contact with your skin made it itch, and least but not last while picking it some of us started coughing because the back of our throats felt like pepper or something was back there.  Roberta Rita, owner of Ham’s Flats, kindly agreed not to cut down the weed until we had picked what we needed for the parade.  We started picking Faux Kihana for lack of the official name about two weeks out. 

After the Queen and Princess meeting and hearing about all the practicing the other units were doing we decided to do one.  Personally, I didn’t think it was that important because we are all riders and were riding our own horses.   However, I was glad we did.  Aawa, Terri, and Kamaka were all seasoned parade riders and they were able to explain what we needed to do and how.  We did this for maybe 45 minutes and then off for a 4 hour trail ride.  Now the trail ride was amazing but … that is another story. 

The Sunday before the parade Kip, Melissa, Brendon, Fawn “wife of Brendon”, Aawa, and I met at the airport at 4:30 AM and flew into Kona on the Big Island.  Let the fun begin.  We rented a 7 passenger van and comfortably drove to Waikaloa Shopping Center for water, food, and stuff.  We proceeded to Saddle Road.  While driving I saw cattle grazing, horses in pasture, wild turkeys, and squirrels.  OKAY, no squirrels. 

Never having been on Saddle Road before I had no clue what to expect.  We were suddenly in an area that was referred to as the “Whoops” road.  Everyone in the back seats were yelling faster, we went as fast as our little van could take us up a an incline, and as we crested you couldn’t see the road ahead and it appeared like we were going to fall of the face of the earth, then I would let off the gas and our tummies all flipped flopped and down we would go.  We did this several times until I noticed Aawa’s white knuckled grip on the dash board and I heard him say under the noise from the back seat…”sista no need go so fast.”  At this point we slowed down and enjoyed the rest of the ride relatively quietly. 

We arrived at the mile marker we were looking for and were given a quick lesson as to what we were looking for and how to stay safe and not get lost.  Kip showed us the Waiwaiole, Liko, Pukiawe, and Uke Grass.  Melissa shared with us that we should stay on the path or if we wander off then make sure you always look before you step.  There are caverns that you can fall into and some are full of water.  Aawa, shared a secret about not getting lost, always keep the power lines in view so you can always find your way back.  I was a little concerned but thought what the heck this is an adventure lets enjoy it.

In the beginning I was anxious about picking the right plants and then was I picking the right parts of the plant.  After about ten minutes I got it and again I felt like a kid in a candy store, running from plant to plant, forgetting the rule about watching where you step and down I’d go.  No water or cavern but a nice reminder to remember where I was and the rules. 

Often times I would find myself completely alone in an area, I couldn’t hear the cars on Saddle Road or any conversations or see anyone else picking and I would just loose myself in the moment.  We were picking flowers/plants on lava fields on the Island of Hawaii.  Light misty showers would bless us, fog would role in briefly then move on, the sun would come out and occasionally you would hear the birds singing in the distance.  This would all occur in a short time span and then repeat itself.  Then you would hear, “Whoo’i”.  Kip was checking on us.  I would respond, “here.”  Aawa would respond.  Brendon and Fawn had wandered down the road so no response. 

We picked for about three hours, took a break for lunch and for the DLNR officers (don’t forget to get your permit for picking, go on line to do so.) and then off we went back towards Kona on Saddle Road.  We were in haunt of the A’alii.  Beware of the Wolf Spiders.

Unfortunately, the A’alii wasn’t ready to be picked at this location so we ventured on to Waimea to stop in and see a friend of Aawa’s named Michelle.  She and her husband graciously welcomed us into their home on the spur of the moment and sat with us while the mists of Waimea rolled in and out.  Michelle is a lei maker, I think lei genius, she sat with Aawa and shared ideas of what we could do.  She also had made an AkuliKuli lei for Aawa to wear in the parade and then kindly Fed Ex’d another for me to wear in the parade.  Michelle was so fascinating and beautiful.  I couldn’t help but stare at her when she spoke because her beauty was not only on the outside but glowed from within. 

We were pretty chilled to the bones by the time we headed back down towards Kona in search of where Michelle said we would find the A’alii and find it we did, along with a herd of Kona Nightingales-ten of them to be exact.  For those of you who don’t know what Kona Nightingales are they are wild donkeys.  I was so excited.  I’ve always seen the signs along the road to watch for them but had never seen them.  On this trip we saw lots.  YEAH. 

We headed back to the airport after this last stop to pick from the a’ina and barely made it on to the plane.  We landed on Oahu at 10:30PM.

The rest of the week we all worked, picked, and met to make lei in the evenings- often not finishing until the wee hours of the morning. On Wednesday, we finished five of the six horse lei and most of the lei we would be wearing.  We were on schedule and a little ahead.  This was accomplished by all my family members coming up and helping, along with neighbors, and friends of friends and riders, and the unit.  Without everyone working together we would never have been able to accomplish what we did so graciously. 

Midnight on Friday the day before the parade Hair and Make up Call.  You gotta be kidding me!  Midnight?   Tania DeJesus did our makeup and Aawa Kamai did our hair.  With the help of Kala, Melissa, and Lei Naala we were able to get our Kipola on and lei attached by 5:00 AM to head to Central Intermediate to be wrapped in our Pa’u and mounted by 7:30 AM.  Whew, almost there. 

By 8:00 AM we were moving down the rode to Iolani Palace to wait until the parade would begin at 9:30. 

As I sat on Ellie I thought to myself, “Darn it is hot, what was a I thinking when I got myself into this.” 

Then I remembered the countless hours of picking flowers, making lei, talking story, the laughter, the learning, the sharing, the friendships that were created, and most of all how much love we had all shared in our own way to make it this far so we could represent the Island of Kauai.  It came to mind at this point how lucky we all were because we would get the glory and the compliments as we rode the parade route.  There were so many who would not be recognized for their efforts to get us to this point. We needed to do them proud. 

A wise person once said, “The journey is so much more important than the destination” and in this case it was so true.  Riding down the parade route was the destination but the journey to get there was so much more valuable and if everyone could somehow be a part of this journey they would be richer for it. 

Special thanks to the family members on Kauai who hiked two weekends in a row in search of Mokihana.  We did our best to represent your island with Aloha and graciousness to make you proud. 

Also, thanks to the ER Department at Pali Momi for the seven stitiches and careful bandaging on Friday Morning of my foot.  I hardly felt it for the last leg of my journey. 

Thank you to everyone who helped make this dream a reality. 

If I misspelled any names of flowers or people I humbly beg your forgiveness.  Remember to live your dreams, love one another, and most of all take care of yourselves. 

Until the next wild adventure…  A Hui Hou!