When I First Heard…

Written by: Sonia F.

What?

There is a fire in Lahaina, Kula, and Olinda and off of Pulehu Road heading to Kīhei and Wailuku as well as the Maui Meadows area.

My mind immediately goes out to my friends in those locations.

Lahaina is first. Jane, Mike, and Sarah. Are they okay? They all have had fires way too close to their homes just last year. I still have the photos on my text messages.

Mike is okay. Sarah is okay. I am so happy to hear this news. Now, it’s time to check in with Jane.

Here goes the text.

Me: Hi Jane! Wanted to check in. Are you and your family, okay? The fire in Lahaina seems to be devastating.

Jane: We are ok. We think we lost everything tho.

What does one say to that? I want to do something, what can I do for her? I do not want to inundate her, so I give space and grace checking in regularly. Finally, I ask the question, what do you need? What does she really need?

Jane: It’s so hard to know. I have some of the essentials now, but things come up every day that I need. I need to write them down because then I forget. Ugh. It’s overwhelming.

It hit me. She does not have the bandwidth to answer specifics.

It’s time to dig through my heart and listen to my instincts. The word nurture comes to me. She needs some nurturing. Then I placed myself in her shoes and thought what would be lovely after experiencing such trauma and shock? She did lose everything, her home, and her business. Her family survived.

Ideas start to pop into my mind.

Make chocolate for her. She loves the homemade chocolate I gave her last time. Time to go into the chocolate factory and sing songs of love over it.

A Japanese washcloth

A nice bar of soap

A nail file

Fingernail clippers

Lotion Lavender oil

And other small items to bring comfort. It is all very practical.

A “care package “. Yes, that is it! A care package. In addition to the downloads that are coming to me, I ask myself, what do I have sitting in a drawer waiting to be given away? I searched and found. Items I have forgotten about may be useful and helpful.

Fast forward one month later, I finally was able to meet with her. She lived in 6 different places in just one month.

We plan a time and day to meet.

It is time to go.

I drive. I arrive.

My prayer is: God, make me be an instrument of your peace.

I walk up to the door and knock.

She opens. Thank you, God, she is alive.

I set the packages down in the living room.

It is small talk for two minutes then we walk into the gathering place, the kitchen. At this point, I could not contain myself. I said, I do not want to re-Traumatize you. But What the heck happened?

I listened and was in shock. It is true. There was no warning. The only reason they knew what was happening was due to wind damage on the home and going outside to investigate the problem. To their surprise they saw the fire and it was big. Due to the past fire, they immediately went into evacuation mode.

She walked up the street to see how they could get out of Lahaina town and talk to the officer who was guarding the street due to down powerlines. She had to yell at a police officer to allow her and her family through to get out. They did not know where they were going to go and headed north. During that time, a friend called and said to come over and stay at their place. They did not know exactly how bad the fire was and if their home and businesses would survive.

The very next day (already scheduled), they had to take their son to college on the Big Island, with nothing. Talk about shock and trauma.

Despite the bouncing around there were miracles.

They lived!!! They have each other. They will rebuild. Yes, it is overwhelming and yes, they will get through it all. And yes, miracles after miracles took place. For example, one person immediately gave her and her family clothes. Another friend set up a gofund.me. Many people made contributions to the gofund.me. Another friend made calls and was able to get them settled into a home. The homeowner GAVE them the home as a gift, rent free, for 9 months while their other son finishes high school. This is the Aloha Spirit in action. There is much to be grateful for.

Yet, as she shared more of the story, I could sense all the unanswered questions and the having to figure out all the next steps. Where will they live after 9 months? Is there even a location for them to reopen their businesses on the West Side. Do they stay on Maui? Will they move? The list goes on.

Step by step. I know in my knower. They will be okay.

And step by step all the other people who were impacted will make it, rebuild and be okay.

It is a new beginning.