Our Beloved Child Has Passed
("Ka Maua Mea Aloha He Keiki Ua Hala", Nupepa Kuokoa, October 4, 1918)
Dear Nupepa Kuokoa, greetings:—Please ferry my tearful news in empty space of the deck of your messenger to announce at the door of each and every home you visit that our dearly beloved has departed along the path all must take, leaving behind the mortal remains for us1 and the rest of the family to mourn with all-consuming grief, yet fulfilling the Scriptures that dust shall return to the earth and the spirit to its Maker.2
Our dear child3 Annie Kanamu Kapoi was born in Kaupo, where the rain makes one hide behind rock walls, on February 21, 1879, and died on September 17, 1918. Therefore, for a full 39 years she breathed the frigid air of this temporary world.
Her traits that she always exhibited to us and that we will never forget were her generosity, unending kindness and heart full of love. Because of her affection for her mother, she refrained from taking a husband. Her mother was her partner.
She served as a schoolteacher for a number of years and also worked for the Maui Telephone Company.4 Because of her affection for her mother, she returned to her beloved home.
In her home, she had a ready hand to tend to and welcome visitors of all nationalities who called. She gave and gave, and because all her generous deeds, in her final hour, numerous friends and acquaintances came to see her earthly remains. They all made the same remark—“How much love and sorrow we feel for her.”
O rain that makes one hide behind rock walls, the homeland of my dear child, you will no longer shower her. O cliffs of Kalepa and Lelekea, her feet will no longer roam over you. O love-snatching wind,5 where my beloved child lived until she became a local in this land where she began as a stranger, your piercing cold will no longer strike her skin, since she is gone, eyes veiled in the gloomy clouds of the road from whence none may return. What searing grief in my chest for my dear one.
We parents and her entire family would like to give our eternal thanks to everyone who came to see her mortal remains and all those well-wishers who adorned her body with bouquets and provided other decorations to beautify her. And above all, glory to the name Jehovah, since as He gave, so shall He take away.6 Praise be His name.
This lament for our beloved will end here with a parting farewell to you, editor.
We the undersigned being the parents and family,
J. K. KAPOI,
MRS. AGNES KAPOI.
And family
- The parents of the deceased.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7.
- “Lei” in the original article.
- In operation from 1889 to 1918.
- A poetic reference to Kipahulu. See entry No. 1463 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- Job 1:21.