WHT at 50 takes me down memory lane
I would like to thank the Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union and West Hawaii Today for publishing Wednesday’s WHT at 50.
Our family was so proud of our sister Sadie Nozaki for being the first Big Island girl ever to serve in the office of a United States representative, Patsy Mink. She was sent aloha style with leis and money for her first big trip outside of the islands. She worked there for about four years and finally came home after living a very stressful life in the city with security always around her.
Her lifestyle changed drastically after that and she wanted to have a simple life again away from home way over in Virginia with a husband. She endured more stress but was always positive. Her big heart gave her a short life when she suffered an aneurysm at the age of 55, just when she retired from a job she had for over 22 years. She was a good worker.
The coincidence that I am writing about is when Sadie died in June of 2002, a note of sympathy had come from Patsy Mink days after her passing. Strangely, Patsy also died three months after Sadie. Both of them almost together in the same year.
They sometimes say that human beings are connected in some way and I believe in faith, too. It was definitely an experience our sister had to go through.
There is an article on Patsy Mink in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald on Dec. 21 about a monument in her honor. When I read that, I said to myself that it will also remind us of our sister — Sadie Setsue Nozaki Bryant.
Thank you, WHT, for the article.
A footnote: On that article is the death of our neighbor, Noreen Oka, also. My other younger sister had been in that same crash, changing seats just before that crash. My sister survived!
Carol Zakahi
Kona
Care for those we have now
As of Dec. 15, 555 human beings were shot and died in Chicago. Two were 1 year old, one 5-year-old and one baby. Dozens were teens and many more were in their 20s.
So why is it that we hear nothing of the lost lives in Chicago? Why is it that the press and politicians go into paroxysms of hysteria when a child trying to get into the United States gets sick on the journey and dies in the United States? Why is it that the powers that be spend untold billions on these people who are assaulting our border and, who do not have ties to the United States, and we have people in Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit who have been citizens of the United States for generations, whom we disregard? These are Americans, we fought the bloodiest war in US history to make these human beings a part of the United States and now ignore their deaths?
Had it not been for a picture of a 7-year-old little girl in pigtails and ribbons, leaning her head against her mother’s, I would most likely not know on such a visceral level about this tragedy. I have asked many people why this is happening, why so much money, energy, sympathy and help for these foreigners and not for the Americans of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit?
Sandra Gray
Kapaau
Yep, fireworks are terrible
Longtime friend and neighbor, Steve Snyder, tells it like it is regarding fireworks.
I can’t recall how many times I’ve vented my disdain for the noxious bombs threatening my property with fires. I won’t leave home on New Year’s Eve because I have to be vigilant to protect it.
The morning after, I’m finding rockets on my deck, the hood, and roof of my truck, and on the roof — one of the reasons I stipulated a tin roof before my house was built.
I might add, the lack of sleep is one of the factors attributed to spouse abuse. I don’t think it’s just a hangover the morning after to blame for hearing the neighbors’ bickering and hollering. (Barking dogs all night is for another letter …)
Dennis Lawson
Kalaoa