Lani is my best friend, my love. She shared
her incredible smile, laugh and sense of humor with me
everyday. A partner who would never abandon me no matter how bad I messed up. She is my rock,
my angel, my sweetie pie-pie.
It's
been said that it's far more blessed to give than to receive. But like me we are all guilty of thinking about ourselves
trying to take what we can get, get as much as we can, as long as we can get it. We are always ready to prove why we
are owed so much. But Lani wasn't like this my sweetie lived life with her arms outstretched wide and never closed
them to take (except to take in the children).
Lani was slow to anger a heart as
big as the ocean and love as wide as the sea. Her love would endure all times and through all seasons.
Lani liked music from country to reggae to samoan, old movies to new dvd releases (even though some weren't very
clear o r people were moving around), bingo (in which she was lucky more times than she told me). From drawing,
sewing, eating especially chinese food and an occasional sweet. Whatever she did would be neat and complete. Lani
enjoyed all of life. She was a farmer in the field of giving and if you looked you would see all the fruit Lani left
us love, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. She loved me, her mom and dad, her
sisters and brothers, and especially the kids.
Lani the day and nights have become a blur. I close my
eyes and find my best friend in my heart and mind. All of our memories mix with the realization that when I open my
eyes that you will no longer be around anymore physically. My hope and prayer was that God would restore you to full
strength. That the Lord would allow you just a little more time with me. I wanted you to recover so we could be
together talking, walking, laughing. You be my koo-koo, me and you, me and you my sweetie pie-pie.
But I never really thought about how you felt only about myself and what I wanted. For you see this is what
Lani our Angel was all about, She put all of life in the palm of her heart and mixed it with love and kindness and gave all
of herself with every part of her being. She endured the kind of pain that would have crippled the weak. You are
our Soldier of Love and in the midst of her body cramping, lungs full of water, liver infected, breathing hard to come by,
nights of tossing and turning without relief. She would reach out and massage my back and although brief compared to
the hours that she spent caring for all of my aches and pains sprinkling love and laughter like she had a magic wand of joy.
You endured all of this and never once complained or thought about giving us a list of all of the things that you did for
all of us. You are a champion, my hero, my coach who taught me how to live life.
I
am the luckiest man in the world for all the riches in the world would never equal one day spent with you. Lani, I know
that your in heaven. I know that your body will be put to rest today. For 17 years you've shared all of your
life and love here on earth. I will miss you here side by side but I know your spirit will always be with me and I will
continue our relationship until we meet again face to face.
