Five Minute Friday - Remember

Last Friday was liberating.  To write without looking back, editing, second guessing.  To let my fingers dance across the keyboard, without judgment, without restriction...at least for five sweet minutes.

In Gypsy Mama's words, Five Minute Friday is "for fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication."


And today, she asks us to give our best five minutes on...


REMEMBER


Ready?  Go.  


Stories of old Hawai`i.   
Of simpler days.  
Of calloused fingers and sun-blistered skin from a long day on the plantation. 
Children playing on dirt roads, bare feet, brown skin.  


She was the youngest of five.  
Korean and proud.  
Her hands, strong.  
Mind, stronger.  


She told us stories of old Hawai`i.  
Of picking mangos and pounding poi.  
Of war and loss.
Family taking care of family. 


I wish I would have listened better, taken notes, asked questions.  I wish I didn't get tired of hearing the same stories over and over again.  Of family I never met.  Of a Hawai`i I never knew.  There were so many lessons to be learned.  So much wisdom to be gleaned.  


But now.
Now she doesn't know:
My name.  
His face.
The stories.


She's quiet.


What is like to not remember?  


STOP.