Thank you Dad.

Who have you CHOSEN to be in your life? Who do you LOVE? 

My FAMILY, My FRIENDS and the lovely strangers who are stopping by my strange gymnasium of health and wellness...

I'd hate to think that LOVE was something we are FORCED to do. YOU are not FORCED to love anyone. You may not be able to choose the circumstances of your birth or your family but you can choose to live your life with love. Love is a CHOICE. We may be thrown into this world of millions of individuals and we get to choose which of those individuals we want to love.

Thank you Dad.

Thank you for CHOOSING to LOVE ME.

No Disclaimer today, my lovely FAMILY and FRIENDS... and everyone who has joined us on the beautiful Wednesday after FATHERS DAY.

I am PROCLAIMING!!!

MY DAD IS AWESOME!!!

My Dad chose to love me. He didn't have to. He faced a choice. Back in 1987 he met a beautiful young woman in a small church near his families property. She worked for the priest there that also happened to be his cousin. His cousin, the priest, noticing the two single young birds eyeing each other and decided to introduce them. She was twenty-seven and had just moved to Maui from the Big Island.

And... she had a kid.

Me.

I don't think I was the hardest kid to love. I don't know... you gotta ask my Dad. And I know my Dad and I have had our share of arguments... that is until I realized how lucky I really was.

I'm getting ahead of myself... The first time I remember meeting my Dad was at a Family Party at a big white house in Waihe'e Maui. I don't remember what he said to me or what we did but I do remember his SMILE.

My DAD has the best Smile. He is always smiling.

I wasn't the sportiest of kids. I didn't have one particular thing I was interested in. And no matter what I wanted to do, my father supported me. I am talking abut EVERYTHING!!! When I was interested in looking at the stars... he bought me a telescope. When I wanted to study the soil and be a gardener... he bought me an herb start-up kit. When I played Volleyball and Softball... he made sure I had the right equipment to be the best.

I wasn't always the the best daughter. I didn't always listen and I wasn't all that polite. After many hours of pushing, my Dad finally got me to say, "Yes, sir." and "Yes. ma'am." Instead of "WHAT." I was a HORRIBLE pre-teen. I made a few really bad choices as all teenagers do. My Dad helped me through it with the huge UNIVERSE patience a Father may have with his pre-teenaged daughter.

Into high school I settled down a bit and got really involved with school. So between school and watching my little sister and brother, I had NO SOCIAL LIFE. Which in my case, was probably for the best for me AND my parents mental stability. I waited until college to be social.

It wasn't until after college as I went into my twenty-seventh year... 2007... exactly twenty years since my Dad met my Mom... that it REALLY hit me.

I am BLESSED.

I am BLESSED with an AWESOME DAD.

I thought to myself... What if... What if I met a man who already had a child. What if I fell in love with the man... I would make the choice to love the child too. I am not saying I ever DOUBTED my Father's love. I have ALWAYS known he loved me and cared for me.

The DIFFERENCE is... I began to UNDERSTAND his LOVE and what it meant to have a FATHER that CHOSE to LOVE ME.

I LOVE YOU DAD.

Thank you for your love, Dad.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers and uncles.

Love, light and aloha,

Pili

My Grandpa

My Papa