Passings

So I know I was doing really good for a while getting this thing all caught up to date but I had to take a break before writing this one.  I sat down to write this quite a few times but just couldn't get through it.  I think enough time has passed now that it won't be as painful to write this now.  Then again, I am already starting to tear up and I haven't even gotten to the hard stuff.

A Dear Friend
On April 19th one of my best friends, Kaniala Otake, passed away.  To be honest it was not a complete surprise, but that really didn't make it any easier.  He had been having some very difficult struggles in his life the past few years.  In spite of that, we had always kept in touch and he had always remained one of my closest friends.

The Obituary 

 Kaniala was one of my first good friends in Hawaii.  He was the only one in Hau'ula 4th ward who really ever heard me say more than a few words at a time.  We stayed close even after he went back to the Big Island.  Whenever he came to Oahu, we made sure to hang out.  He wrote to me from his mission in Florida.  He was a good missionary.

Kaniala and I after he got home from his mission.  We went and
saw Fantastic Four in the theater that night.

When I went on my mission, I got to spend a few extra days in Provo.  Kaniala and I hung out quite a bit, going shopping for a few odds and ends that I needed, stopping in to visit a very pregnant Sylvia, and having a major snowball fight with some of his mission buddies.

Visiting with Sylvia and Kaniala before my mission.

When Kaniala found out that Mom and Dad wouldn't be going to the MTC with me, he insisted on going.  I told him Kate would be there to represent my family, but he insisted I needed more family there.  He even joked when it was time for me to go that he should get a hug because he was family.  He didn't get the hug but he was right about being family.

We kept in touch through marriages, kids and his divorce.  He always called or wrote to let me know how he was doing and where he was.  We even got to visit with him when he was in Omaha for some job training.

I still cry when I think that he is gone.  I won't get a call from him this Christmas.  He won't get to meet my children.  I miss him.

In all of this though, I have gained a greater testimony of the atonement and the plan of salvation.  While it doesn't seem fair that he should be gone, there is a reason for all of this.  Nothing is left to chance.  The Lord has everything under control and He knows what is best for Kaniala.  I hope that Kaniala now knows how much he was loved by the friends and family he had here.  I hope that he is able to overcome the challenges and struggles he had here.  I hope he knows his Heavenly Father's love for him.

A Good Pet

Not long after Kaniala's passing, we had a rather traumatic incident at our home.  A friend was playing with our guinea pig, Oreo, and got playing a little too rough.  Oreo ended up falling on his back on the edge of our coffee table and broke his back.  Fortunately it was instant death.  The really traumatic part was that Nolan was there and he told me that Oreo went "crack".

Oreo shortly after we got him in September 2009

We adopted Oreo when he was a year old.  We thought Nolan would enjoy having a pet he could interact with.  We were right.  Nolan loved watching Oreo "hop" around and listening to him squeek.  He loved feeding Oreo hay or peppers or anything else.  He would even occaisionally share his cars with Oreo.

Shelby petting Oreo

Shelby learned to love Oreo from Nolan.  Nolan showed her all the tricks to feeding and playing with Oreo.  They especially loved when we would take Oreo out of the cage and let the kids pet him.

Just watching Oreo

We kept Oreo in the family room because guinea pigs love to be around people.  They don't like to be alone.  The kids loved having him around and I don't think a day passed that Oreo didn't get attention from the kids.

We had a nice little funeral in our back yard for Oreo.  We wrapped up in an old t-shirt and out him in a small shoebox and buried him next to the shed.  Nolan picked the flower for Oreo.

Oreo's Resting Place
September 2008 - June 6, 2012

The hardest part of losing Oreo was trying to explain to a 3 year old about death.  As I have been writing this Nolan has been looking at the pictures and telling me that Oreo is dead and is with Jesus.  I think he's got the idea.  Nolan likes the idea that Oreo is staying with Jesus and that Jesus is taking care of Oreo.  I don't know if Nolan fully understands that Oreo can't come back, but he is at peace with what he understands.  Who knows, maybe he understands better than the rest of us.