Before I say anything else, I want to say that every day I miss Kapoho, I miss Pohoiki as it was and I miss our community. Throughout May I thought about what was I doing on each of its days last year. I have had to restrain myself from looking at pictures and videos too often because it isn’t productive and it makes me too sad.
Now I will count my blessings.
I am thankful for the friends and the community organizations that gave us support.
I am thankful for the friendships that have become stronger through our shared experience.
I am thankful we see our son more often now, since he lives in Hilo too.
I am thankful that our daughter is so strong, she's been able to process our shared loss while she's been away at school.
I am thankful for the new opportunities and friendships we've made this past year.
I am thankful for our lives becoming interesting and unpredictable. I loved our Kapoho life and the predictable rhythm of our days there. I loved the solitude that came with living in a rural area. I miss it, but I am choosing to embrace this new life we have been given.
I still feeling exhausted from the effort it took to get where we are right now,
but as the land of Puna has been re-born,
so have we.