My Beloved Grandmother Has Gone on the Path of No Return
("Kuu Kuku Aloha Ua Hala I Ke Ala Hoi Ole Mai", Nupepa Kuokoa, November 15, 1912)
Dear editor of the Kuokoa, greetings: Please provide space in the treasure of our nation, the Nupepa Kuokoa, for my burden of sorrow, that you may carry it off through every part of Hawaii so that family and friends will know of the untethering of my grandmother’s life breath to glide gracefully on the path that all living things must travel.
My grandmother Mrs. Kaalani Haupu has departed this life, and here I am grieving in this world, with thoughts of sadness and sorrow for her, weeping with affection, wondering how I will find her again when the hands of death have reached out and snatched away her spirit.
She has left in this world a daughter, Mrs. Alapai Kanuha, as well as many children and grandchildren.
Farewell to my grandmother who has passed on to the path of no return1, leaving me to shoulder the burdens of sadness and sorrow.
I am filled with constant reflections of my grandmother. My grandmother and I were companions of the cool mountains of Kaupo, where the rain makes one hide behind rock walls. What fond memories of this place where we were living. I will no longer see her face, and I will no longer hear her voice. She will no longer tend to my children. What endless thoughts of her. The pounding rain will eventually pass but not my affection for my grandmother.
She was a member of the church of Kaupo.
She left us at 7 in the evening on Saturday, October 12, 1912, at the home of her children. She was over 80 years old.
With fond regards for the young typesetters.
Mournfully,
MRS. M. S. KAWAIAEA.
Wailua, Hana, Maui, Oct. 28, 1912.
Note: The age at death of 82 is an estimate. The 1910 census for Kaupo (dated April 20-21, 1910) lists Haupu's age as 79 years old at that time. In addition, Haupu was identified as 60 years old as of the 1900 census for Hana (dated June 2, 1900), with a birth year of 1840 listed.
Below is the obituary in the original Hawaiian:
KUU KUKU ALOHA UA HALA I KE ALA HOI OLE MAI.
I ka lunahooponopono o ke Kuokoa, Aloha oe: E oluolu mai hoi oe i kekahi wahi kaawale o ka hiwahiwa a ka Lahui, ka Nupepa Kuokoa, no ka’u wahi ukana o ka luuluu a nana hoi ia e aha’i aku ma na wahi apuni o Hawaii nei, i ike mai ai ka ohana ame na hoaloha, i ke kuu ana mai o ko’u kuku i ka hanu ola a niau palanehe aku la ma ke alahele o na mea ola apau.
Ua haalele mai ko’u kuku Mrs Kaalani Haupu i keia ola ana, a eia au ke paiauma aku nei ma keia ao, me na manao kaumaha a luuluu nona, e hoona ae ana i ke aloha, a pehea la ia e loaa hou ai ia’u ua kikoo mai la na lima o ka make a kaili aku la i kana o ka uhane.
Ua haalele iho oia ma keia ao nei, he kaikamahine oia o Mrs. Alapai Kanuha, he mau keiki ame na moopuna he lehulehu.
Aloha no ko’u kuku i hala i ala hoi ole mai, a na’u e auamo aku i na haawina o ka luuluu ame ke kaumaha.
Auwe ko’u hoomanao pau ole i ko’u kuku. Ua piliia e a’u me kuu kuku na kuahiwi koekoe o ka ua Peepapohaku o Kaupo, aloha ia wahi a maua e noho ai, ua pau ko’u ike ana i kona mau maka a ua pau no hoi ko’u lohe ana i kona leo, pau no hoi kona luhi ana mai i ka’u mau keiki, auwe ko’u hoomanao pau ole iaia. Ka haluku a ka ua e mao ana aka, o kuu aloha kuku aole e pau.
He haipule oia a he hoahanau no ka Ekalesia o Kaupo.
Ua haalele mai oia ia makou ma ka hora ehiku o ke ahiahi Poaono, Okatoba 12, 1912, ma ka home o kana mau keiki, a ua piha no iaia he kanawalu makahiki a oi.
Me na keiki hoonoho hua kepau ko’u aloha nui. Owau iho no me ka luuluu.
MRS. M. S. KAWAIAEA.Â
Wailua, Hana, Maui, Oct. 28, 1912.
Footnotes
- A common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 420 in the book “ʻŌlelo NoÊ»eau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.