My family is young and new, although we’ve been on this earth for quite some years, we only recently reunited and united together. The dynamics of my family is a subject that would require an entire book rather than a blog post, perhaps one day it shall be written and hopefully by Chelsea.
The last four years have been some of the best in my life, and one of those reasons is Chelsea. It’s been rather easy transitioning from acquaintance to parent, especially since Lilinoe had done an excellent job providing Chelsea with the basic tools: responsibility, sincerity, respect, etc. Despite her young age, like many children today, Chelsea has experienced disappointment, heartache and confusion with respect to adults whom were “expected” to provide and care for her well-being. Fortunately, today, any discomfort she felt serves only as a motivator to excel, a reminder of how not to do things, and most importantly my opportunity to be graced with a truly beautiful soul.
Today Chelsea turns 12! We celebrated at the Princess Kaiulani Hotel’s Pikake Terrace featuring a mouth watering buffet of prime rib, lobster, fresh poke, and other local and seafood delicacies. Besides the array of decadent food options, the 
poolside buffet features the music of local entertainer Sam Kapu, Jr. and the dancers of Chelsea’s halau, Kuhai Halau O Kahalepuna Pa Olapa Kahiko. As the “Kapahulu Common Mango” serenaded the audience with tourist favorite tunes, and the dancers’ cellophane skirts glittered the stage, the clear blue skies soon turned to a starry night as the sun set gently on the West horizon and our night became illuminated by the torch flames.
Chelsea knew that we were having dinner in her honor, but she was pleasantly surprised that Lilinoe’s brother and his girlfriend joined us and then tears filled her eyes when her good friend Stacia and her sister Krista were also part of our dinner party.
The show had two unexpected performers; Whitney Houston and Elvis. Both were from the Stars in Concert line up that performs in the hotel’s showroom and if their numbers were any indication of the show, look for a future post of our experience.
Chelsea was grateful for her evening afforded by Lilinoe and I. And for me, I am grateful to Lilinoe for trusting me and most importantly while we don’t share the same genes, we certainly have DNA of the same soul.
