My namesake, my Nana

Two days ago, I got some disturbing news from home that I started looking for the next flight out.

My Nana was rushed to the hospital due to a high fever that spiked, made her throw up 

and by the time they got to the hospital she was all YELLOW!!!!!

Doctors are saying she might possibly have stomach cancer 

but, they won't know for sure until they get the results of the bloodwork 

they were sending to New Zealand (This is silly but that's a whole post for another time)

Feb 2013 - 78 and rocking it

My Nana is 78 years old. 

She got into a car accident with my Papa back in 2007, fractured her skull, 

suffered broken bones,

 but she survived and has been bed ridden ever since. 

She is a fighter - no doubt. 

9 years she's been bed ridden

9 years she never gave up

Sometime ago - she told me on the phone that she had already planned her own funeral

She had already picked out who will giver her eulogies

Of course being the eldest grandchild, I am also her 'PELE' or the utmost favorite 

(sorry all you other grandchildren hehehe).
And being the PELE comes many responsibilities. 

One of them is, delivering a fun and uplifting (no sad) eulogy at her funeral.

She picked the Pakele e faia le loku

She's designed her mu'umu'u and already told my mom which material 

and what kind of lace

She wants a bright red aute in her hair with matching red lipstick

She's decided on where she wants to be buried - "Not in Savaii, too much faasamoa. kagu a'u i'i Lokopa" were her exact words.

She doesn't want any faasamoa. She said "faaoga i'i kakou piko afakasi, leai gi faasamoa ma le kele o le gasu"

She doesn't want anything big - she only wants her children to surround her. She wants to be surrounded by love, laughter and food.

"Cater uma meaai - aua gei kuka sesi"

"And when I'm in the ground, you all can sit around my spot, enjoy your food, ma fai kou faiga guku and I can faikakala ai foi ma a'u"

Of course, this silently reduced me to tears

She heard me sob "Suga, soia ke kagivale - e le kagi gi keige koa"

My Nana is a character with such a strong fight

She is the Matriarch of our family

We seek her out for advise on anything and guarantee she has an answer

She may not have attended the highest education 

BUT,

She is full of wisdom

Her presence lights up the room

She never fails to smile or laugh - even when she's in pain

 

From her - I learnt

how to be self-sufficient

humility and compassion

to always give and help out where-ever, whoever or whenever we can

Family is our greatest asset - hold on to that

forget the worries of the world - e maimau ai le kaimi

 E lelei le i ai o le tupe, e leaga le mafaufau so'o i tupe

(It's good to have money, no good to always think of money)

Use our talents, God gave us talents to use not to waste :)

Work hard - head down, bottom up!

If you put your mind to it, you can get anywhere you want in this world

Get and education

I can go on and on about the things I've learned from my Nana but one thing I can say for sure is - she is the one person or the one place where I go to feel 

accepted, safe, loved, secure and comforted.

I miss my Nana