Virginia Tanji sent us this a couple of months back and she and her husband, Andy, graciously allowed us to publish it.
My brother-in-law Ed, the youngest of four brothers, passed
away in home hospice care in early September and we were there. He was cadaverous when we arrived, but
amazingly lucid. He would sit up for
about an hour at a time three to four times a day working on his columns,
reading, checking email, etc. We arrived on Labor Day, but by the weekend he
was considerably weaker...he was taking very little by mouth...his wife, an
amazing woman and a retired nurse, administered drugs from the hospice
"comfort care" box. It was a
privilege to be there to see the loving care that he got from his wife, son,
and two daughters. Another brother and his wife also came. Andy and I ran the kitchen...Andy cooked, I
helped with the shopping, menu planning, and was one of the willing scullery maids.
Edwin had throat cancer, and even with treatment it continued to metastasize.
He left letters for his seven grandchildren, instructions for his services, and a couple of final columns. He was a retired journalist and was beloved by the Maui community he covered so well.
It was quite a beautiful experience, and I told his wife that it was really a privilege to be allowed to stay and be there for his final days on this earth.
I thought you might enjoy the last Haku Mo'olelo column he wrote for the Maui News.*
Author: Virginia Tanji has been a membver of Cell 2 Soul for eons. You can reach her at V. Tanji.
*The link to the Maui News column gives you access to Edwin Tanji's final "Haku Mo'olelo" column. It is the parting words of a writer contemplating his own death. Ed Tanji was a former city editor of The Maui News. "Haku Mo'olelo," "writing stories," is about stories that are being written or have been written. Ron Youngblood, Ed's colleague at the Maui News, wrote this moving obituary. Lucky too live and maki on Maui!
