Awaiaulu ke aloha . . .

Aloha kakahiaka e ko Maui! Here are two 'ōlelo no'eau that talk about love. The first goes, Awaiāulu ke aloha, love made fast by tying togehter. The second says, 'Uo 'ia i ka manai ho'okahi, strung like flowers on the same needle. When we think about love it's alot like making a lei. Two different people, like different flowers come together to make something beautiful. Like a lei, love is fastended by tying it together, tightly, creating a bond that is unbreakable. This kind of bond takes hard work and comittment. Comittment to each other, comittment to the marriage, comittment to being parnters. Sometimes this comittment also requires compromise. Knowing when to be humble, when to be quiet. The second 'ōlelo no'eau paints of a picture of a couple living harmoniously, like flowers strung on the same lei needle. If you've ever strung a lei you know that no two flowers are exactly the same, yet as you string the flowers onto the lei needle they begin to shift and move and bend a little until they become one, one lei. So it is in relationships. Sometimes we gotta bend, shift and move a bit, but as we work together, we become one. One beautiful lei of love fastened together. These were the 'ōlelo no'eau we chose to have inscribed on our wedding invitations 16 years ago today. It still serves as a reminder to me that love takes work, effort and comittment, but love is worth it. It's worth the ups and the downs. It's worth the sacrifice when you can look back some years later and admire your beautiful lei of love. So to all of y ou who have found love, hang on to it, nurture it, tie it together, fasten it, to do whatever it takes to keep your lei of love fresh and beautiful. Happy Anniversary, Llewellyn. Aloha au iā 'oe.

Aloha nō, a hui.
~Luana