Page 4 - MidWeek - Sep 15 2021

4 MIDWEEK SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
HAWAI‘I’S FAVORITE MEDIA SURVEY By Kelli Shiroma Braiotta What’s your favorite memory
W Dr. Nagasawa
with a grandparent?
hen I first started writing this column, it was 1997, the year our daughter was born. Our son was 8 years old and besides adoring his little sister, his
big deal was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Our son is a unique individual, as is his sister, and it has made our lives as parents an incredible journey. Our son has always walked his own path. I know this, for when as a child, he asked me to buy him the book Divine Comedy, which contained the poem Dante’s Inferno.
BRANDON SAHAGUN
Mailman, ‘Ewa Beach
“How my grandma would always have some little gift for us whenever she flew in from the Mainland to visit.”
MARI TADAKI
Server/Cashier, Honolulu
“When my granny
would pick me up after elementary school. We always had a special way to say goodbye that was like a secret handshake.”
TROY TOKUHAMA
Engineer, ‘Aiea
“Going to my grandma’s house and watching Atlanta Braves’ games on TBS.”
MALIA HUTTON
Senior Coordinator, Honolulu
“Helping my grandpa in the yard. I liked being around him; he was a kind man. He always smelled like butterscotch since he always had some in his pocket.”
We later discovered that he practically had a photographic memory, which explained why he was later infatuated with Texas Hold’em. It’s also why today he has a command of at least five different languages, maybe more.
While my wife has raised our children as devout Catholics, one weekend when our son was 16, he asked me to drive him to a Tibetan temple in Nu‘uanu. I dropped him off and that became his weekly ritual. One evening when I picked him up, the senior Tibetan monk, Lama Rinchon, asked to speak with me. He marveled at our son’s dedication, cooking, cleaning and learning their rituals at the temple, especially at such a young age. He told me that our son was a Tibetan “tulku,” a reincarnated lama. I didn’t realize the significance of that until a year later, when the Dalai Lama was to be on Maui. Our boy convinced his school to allow him to attend as a field trip, which they did, provided I would be the chaperone for him and another student.
Ron Nagasawa
Director of Content / Supplement Products
Mallory Adams-Nakamura
Creative Supervisor
Lianne Bidal Thompson
Assistant Editor
Anthony Consillio
Senior Photographer
Darin Nakakura
Director of Advertising dnakakura@staradvertiser.com (808) 529-4726
Nicole Monton
Managing Editor
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta
Senior Staff Writer
Lawrence Tabudlo
Senior Photographer
Kenny Harrison
Director of Advertising kharrison@staradvertiser.com (808) 529-4351
Dennis Francis
President & Publisher
Dave Kennedy
Chief Revenue Officer
Bill Mossman
Executive Editor
Mark Galacgac
Graphic Artist
Ginger Keller
MidWeek Staff Writer
Don Robbins
Special Sections Writer
To Advertise, Contact:
www.midweek.com
Telephone for Editorial, Advertising & Distribution: (808) 529-4700
To start/stop delivery or report a service issue, please call (808) 538-6397
MidWeek (USPS 002-949) is published every Wednesday by The Honolulu Star- Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500 Honolulu, HI 96813. Periodicals postage paid at Honolulu, HI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MidWeek, 4545 Kapolei Parkway, Kapolei, HI 96707.
IMemory Lapses Lately?
read something that validated what I was no- ticing about myself lately: I’ve been more for- getful than usual. I knew I couldn’t blame it on
advancing age, as I’ve read studies about how the more we fault our declining memory on age, the faster our memory declines. Since I don’t do this, I still wondered why — until today when I learned that when humans isolate, their capacity to remember is reduced.
Scientists found shrunken areas in the memory re- tention part of the brain in Antarctic expeditioners af- ter 14 months of reduced social contact. Also, adults with small social circles are more likely to develop memory loss. It was great to read that we can get it all back when we start to socialize again. Whew.
alice@yourhappinessu.com
I managed to book us in the same hotel as the Dalai Lama, but told my son not to get his hopes up too high, that at best we might get a glimpse of this great man. We never got that chance but upon checking out, there was commotion that the Dalai Lama was making his way out of the resort. The lobby was filled with more security than for POTUS, so I positioned my son with his friend on the opposite site of a corridor the Dalai Lama would have to traverse to get to his awaiting vehicle caravan. I said I would snap a photo as the Dalai Lama passed in front of him. Just then, I saw an entourage of people walking from the lobby surrounding an elderly bald man in glasses wearing orange and maroon robes. It was the Dalai Lama. As he walked through the corridor, he suddenly stopped, parted his crowd of escorts and then went up and greeted my son. The Dalai Lama seemed to recognize him! It was then I realized what Lama Rinchon had told me.
This year on my birthday, our son received his Ph.D. in religious studies specializing in Tibetan Buddhism from the University of California Santa Barbara.
It is a most auspicious achievement.
rnagasawa@midweek.com