nani, the glue

i was just talking to my dad on the phone and we were talking about our girls.  he was asking how they were doing through this whole ordeal and i told him that they are doing surprisingly well!  unless everyone is telling me what they think i want to hear and not the truth, the word is that they are still very sweet and good when they are being watched by all of the amazing people in our ward.

 

i’ll admit that they are doing better than i expected they would. i’ve seen other families go through separations similar to ours and the kids seem to start breaking down after about a week.  they start acting out or become grumpy, withdrawn, or sad and manifest it through bad behavior.  like i said, unless people are not giving me a truthful picture, then our girls are doing incredibly well!

 

so, i was talking to my dad about all of this and then we started talking about how well our girls get along.  we really have been blessed with girls that are good friends that watch out for each other!   sure, they have there moments, but for the most part they are great friends. they love to play together and imagine up games that include all the sisters. 

 

just yesterday while i was talking to mitch on the phone, i could hear the girls screaming in delight and laughing in the background.  apparently, they were playing a game of hide and seek that involved all 4 girls.  mahea would just follow the seeker around and as soon as they found someone she would squeal in delight!!  it was music to my ears and i couldn’t help but smile!!

 

anyway, while talking with my dad about how well the girls get along i said, “i think a lot of it has to do with nani.  she is so sweet and thoughtful.  she watches over her sisters and takes care of them.  even when kale’a is getting in trouble she will defend her!  being the oldest she is setting that example for her sisters”  this, of course, was no surprise to my dad and he said, “i know, you can see it in her eyes, her kind, sweet countenance!  she is the glue!  i can’t think of a better way to put it, but she holds everything together!”

i’d never thought of it that way, but that is exactly who she is!  she is the glue of the family!  i love this picture of nani holding her sisters hand on a hike we took two summers ago.  she was caring for kawena and making sure she got safely through the water without falling or getting hurt.  this picture says so much about who nani is.  she is a protector and a leader amongst her sisters.

 

nani has a genuine concern for others.  i remember last year at the end of the school year i was talking with one of nani’s teachers.  she told me that nani has a very caring heart. several times throughout the year she would inquire about the well-being of a fellow student who had gotten hurt because she was concerned for them.  this was not just a one time thing, anytime one of the students in her class got hurt or sick and was not in class she would ask the teacher how they were doing.  nani was given a heart of compassion for others and her peers are drawn to her because of her kindness and caring.

 

nani and her cousin, kele, this summer in california

 

since my last post, nani has come to visit me twice in the hospital!  the first time was last monday and being a school night we pretty much spent most of the time doing her homework that was due the next day.  even though we were doing homework and not playing games and coloring, like i did with her sisters, we still had a great time.  maybe that was because she had just a little bit of math and the rest was creative writing stuff.

 

nani is a very creative person.  for as long as i can remember, whenever she has been asked what she wants to be when she grows up it is always something that involves art and creativity.  the first thing she wanted to be, many years ago, was a photographer.  now, if you ask her she will tell you that she wants to be an author and illustrator!  she has already written several stories and loves to draw and create!

 

so, here in my little hospital room, laying in my bed together we imagined up a story about a cheetah that walked into her school’s library and began reading books.  once we finished that story, we wrote a free verse poem about babies, about how they are sweet and sometimes stinky, how they are soft and cuddly, how sometimes they just cry and cry, but most importantly how much we love babies!  it was fun to be creative with my author/illustrator daughter!!

 

her second visit was yesterday.  she really wanted to watch saturday cartoons because “we don’t have cartoons at home”!! so, we watched a little bit of them while she showed me how to make bracelets out of yarn. then, i taught her how to play solitaire, which she picked up quickly and enjoyed, we never did win, though!  after that, she told me that she wanted to do homework and i thought, “really?”  so, again we did homework… the creative kind!

 

i wasn’t completely shocked that nani wanted to do homework.  she is a very responsible girl.  there have been many mornings where she has asked mitch to wake her up early so she could finish her homework that she didn’t have time to finish the night before.  she is just like that.  she may have inherited some of my perfectionistic tendencies???  whatever it is, she sets a high standard for herself and most of the time she reaches it of her own doing!!   though it was homework we did, we were still laughing and having a great time just being together.

 

i love my nani girl!  she is super helpful at home.  being our first child and the oldest, there is a lot more responsibility placed on her.  sometimes she doesn’t think it is fair, but she still is my little helper and does so much around the house to help… especially since i have gotten so big and was having a hard time doing everything i used to do!  i know that she will be such a blessing when these boys join our family.

 

noelani, her given name, in hawaiian means “heavenly mist”.   mist is soft, and gentle, it is not harsh, but subtle.  mist can make light visible.  that is our nani.  she has a gentle sweetness about her and she shines her light for all to see!

 

i loved having nani with me in my hospital room, just her and i.  i think that in bigger families you miss out on a lot of the one-on-one time, but when you are given a chance to have some you realize what a blessing it is.  while she was with me i paid close attention to who nani is.  i listened and i watched as she talked to me and as we worked together.  i felt so strongly the sweetness of her spirit in this room.  i know that she is a daughter of God and He loves her so much, just as she loves Him.  i could feel it as i lay next to her.  she has such a desire for righteousness and a hunger for truth and light.  i watched this daughter of mine and i was so grateful that she came to our family.  she blesses our family everyday!  she is “the glue”, as my dad said, that holds our family together with such strength,… and i am proud to be her mother!