I had sent flowers and was going to call Helen later in the day to wish her a happy birthday. I was expecting to hear her tell me about how her "mermaids" threw her another surprise "John Wayne-themed" birthday party after their daily water exercise class at the Kapa'a pool, or how her daughter-in-law Nancy had a gathering at her home for their small group of friends to celebrate Helen's special day. I was not expecting to learn that I was never going to hear Helen's voice again. I tried calling the hospital and wound up speaking with Helen's daughter, who told me that she was sedated and would probably not wake up again. She left us the day after her birthday, September 19.
I was so sad. She "adopted" us in 1992 when we moved into the house next door, right before Hurricane Iniki. When Ryan was born, she immediately became his "Nana." She helped us out by watching Ryan when we didn't have a babysitter and would sometimes pick him up from preschool when we were running late from work. When Ryan was a baby and fell off the bed and hit his head, bruising his eyelid, I ran over to Helen's all frantic to have her look at him and let me know whether I needed to take him to the hospital; thank goodness he was fine and thank goodness Helen was there for me. Once I was so sick with food poisoning while Darrell was at work and she watched Ryan for me until my parents flew over from Oahu (thanks Mom and Dad!). She hung out with Ryan and me on Sundays when Darrell was working, playing in the driveway with Ry or having him over to her house where he could play with Phantom, her black cat (her other black cat, Velvet, would have nothing to do with him and hid when he came over!).
When we went on trips, she always held our mail and looked after the house. She was so self-reliant and strong; when someone came to work on our house that she didn't recognize, she went out and questioned him to make sure he wasn't trying to break in. When we had wasps nesting, she went after them herself, even getting stung! She was fearless! It was so nice to have a friend right next door to talk to; she probably was one of the only close friends I had from our time on Kauai. It was hard to move back to Oahu and leave her behind, but we kept in touch, and I would print out this blog so she could read what we had been up to. We visited whenever we could. The last time we saw her in person was June last year. Earlier this year she had been seriously ill, but she was recovering and seemed almost back to herself the last time I spoke to her, and she had even sent us anniversary and birthday cards like she usually did. She always remembered every occasion.
Nana was so proud of Ryan. She kept going to his preschool for their annual fair to support them and would bring his latest photos to show the director, updating them on the latest news. She ended every call with, "give a hug to my guys" and "love you."
Nancy sent a copy of The Garden Island that had the memorial notice for Helen. It was so sweet that they listed Ryan as one her survivors, her "hanai grandson."Thank you, Helen, for being our family on Kauai and for taking care of us. I'm sorry we didn't get to see you one last time. Miss you and love you...
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