Often our Uncle will send along e-mails of video links, funny images, and his own photography. He will usually write a note. Yesterday, he wrote this:
Don’t take your life for granted. Remember your roots.
I thought about this day in 2012. We went to have lunch with a view of almost all of Maui. Our island isn’t big, but its also where my roots began to grow. I’ve used that line over and over since writing my college application essays in high school. Back then, I wanted to go beyond the islands for growth and change. I was ready to “get off the rock” and figure out my own path beyond Maui. Now, eight years later, I’m looking back at the place I left with respect, honor and pride. This has been a helluva migration from island, to coast, to other coast, but it always comes back to this place–Maui.
Don’t lose your roots, respect the ride.