When we say “‘ohana” in Hawai‘i, we are talking about our parents, siblings, children, grandchildren and our extended family of friends, colleagues, team members, etc. My family has a “tennis ‘ohana” that goes as far back as 40-plus years. Yes, we met playing tennis in Kalihi, then on Sub-Base, and now in ‘Aiea. The oldest member is78 years old, with the youngest at 2 months old.
This special ‘ohana has been together through weddings, births and deaths, being very supportive through it all. I recently counted that our 12 families have 22 adults, 35 young adults and those young adults produced 22 more tennis ‘ohana members. That totals 79 individuals which became 80 when one of our ‘ohana got married this October. So many memories are in the making by so many people!
I found a picture of the tennis ‘ohana women to share with you in this article. It was taken at the wedding reception of one of our young adults last July. When the women were together for the bridal shower, one of them thought it would be nice for us to take out our previously worn mother-of-the-bride-or-groom outfits and wear them to this wedding. What a good idea, since I had three gowns that were worn only once.
What does your ‘ohana look like? I hope you continue to make happy memories with them.
If you have a story to share, contact Sherry Goya at 808-722-8487 or email sgoyallc@aol.com.
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