When I spent a year professing in Hawaii, my oldest daughter and son-in-law brought my first two grandchildren from Texas to visit. Britt was two, Kara was six-months old.
My daughter Sheryl discovered Hawaiians still retain a version of some native words. Grandparents are Tutus. Grandmother is Tutu. And Grandfathers are often called Tutu Kane.
Outsiders give us a strange look when they hear Britt, now a Colonel in the Air National Guard, call his grandfather Tutu Kane.
Another language holdover. When Hawaiians recall legends they ‘talk story’. One old story tells how Maui captured the sun to extend the day for farmers growing crops. You also need to know Kanakaloka brings presents and comes in an outrigger canoe.
This time of the year we often recall and ‘talk story’ to grandchildren and great grandchildren. Good time to recount that seasonal editorial you already know
Yes, Virginia–and South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Oregon, California, Australia, Indiana, Illinois, Arizona–there is a Santa Claus.
Photo by Nature Pro on Shutterstock
