The weekend.

This weekend I had attended an aunt's funeral in Oahu. Her eulogy was beautifully expressed and it made me think of all of her accomplishments in her lifetime, unexpectedly shortened by an "accidental death." I haven't attended much funerals (in which the person died at a young age), but it always seems that the lives that they have led were full and the people they touched were heart felt. So as morbid as I may sound, the thought of my own death came to mind. In my eulogy, will my life have been so fulfilled. In hers, she was said to have reached Enlightenment. Have I? Or is it true, that my death will come when I have made my foot print in this world? And then I thought, do I want a funeral? Do I believe that we need a service to send our spirits in the right direction? Are funerals just a part of the mourning process? Or do I believe that, in this life, we are- in fact, living in heaven and hell, in any way that we choose to believe. So how much concern do I have for where my spirit goes in the afterlife, if I do in fact believe in an afterlife. So many questions, I know- but the chanting was long, monotonous and beautiful- and her entire congregation came to offer incense (at least 250).

I also decided that when I begin my family I am going to start the tradition of family reunions. As I was sitting there, seeing family members from Maui (who I never see) and family from Oahu (who I never ever see)- and I re-realized that I love family. Seeing them, hearing the chatter and being in their presence gives me a feeling of happiness that only family can bring. After the funeral we all went to my aunts moms house where I talked to cousins that I never actually talked to before. It was nice. Its weird that they are only a few years plus (under 30) older than I, yet are my second cousins. If I lived in Oahu, I think we would get along very well. Or at least that is the conclusion I came to, after hanging out with them for five hours.

Today was a long day. An emotional day. A social one.
In the end, a very fulfilling trip/vacation in which I finally got some Chicken Katsu Curry from Curry House.