MY DEAR MOTHER LUIKA KAAHA HAS PASSED ON
Mr. Editor of the Kuokoa Newspaper, aloha oe:–Please place in an open space of your paper the heading above so that the many relatives of my dear mama who live from where the sun rises at Haehae to where the sun sets at Lehua will know.
My beloved mama, Luika Kaaha left this life on the 4th of October, 1917, at 11 p. m. at Kamoiliili, and her spirit returned to He who created it, and left her earthly body for me, my dear papa, the grandchildren, and family, who lament on this side of the dark river of death. I grieve for you, my dearly beloved Mama!
My mama was born at Apauhua, Lahaina, Maui, from the loins of Mele Lukaina (f) and Kanui (m) in the year 1857, so she was alive in this faint-hearted world for 60 years when she left me and my dear father and her grandchildren who grieve for her with sadness in this world.
Her mother died while she was still young. After the death of her mother, she returned with her father, Kanui, to Kohala, Hawaii, his land of birth, and my mama lived there until the death of her father.
My dear mother first married John Kalama, and from their loins came me, and my elder sibling who died previously. And because they joined the faith of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints, they left the land and headed to this unfamiliar land to tell the word of God. This island was traveled by me and my dear papa who passed on, telling the gospel of Christ. In the year 1902, my dear papa, John Kalama, died and left me and my dear mama living in this foreign land.
After a year after my father’s death, my dear mama married Hiram Kaaha [Hairama Kaaha]. They lived together in marriage for 12 years, and she left this life, and the words of the Great Book came to pass, “For life of man is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” They did not produce fruit from their loins when she passed on to the fathomless pit of the earth. Blessed be Almighty God, for it is He who giveth and He who taketh away.
My dear mama was a good mother and she had an open heart; she was kind and welcoming. My dear mama was a patient mother and frugal, and she was well off in her life as man and woman. And because of her perseverance, she left me and her grandchildren well to do through her perseverance. Aloha to you, my persevering mama!
My mother’s illness began five years ago, and the illness continued until it became very severe, until the time the doctor said, your mother cannot be saved. She withstood the pains of her body until she left me, her child, her husband, and grandchildren, who mourn for her.
I give my great appreciation to the head and members of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints. I also give my full thanks to the Rev. H. H. Parker for his blessing the body of my dear mama in Kamoiliili Church, and so too for those who carried the coffin of my dear mama; and those who gave offerings of flowers and lei to adorn my beloved mama who went on the road of no return, and everyone who accompanied her on her final journey and laid her to rest in peace in the Lord.
Therefore, I pray to God to take the grief and sadness from you, my dear papa, and his grandchildren, Amen.
Luika Piianaia,
Kamoiliili, Honolulu, Oahu,
October 8, 1917.
[This is Louise Piianaia, a wife of Abraham Piianaia.]
(Kuokoa, 10/19/1917, p. 8)
