You know... Keiki (children) stay always learning lessons, yeah? We watch dem learn life's lessons and sometimes so funny dat you goddah buss out laughing. And den, uddah times, dey go thru' hahd times and all you can do is geeve dem one big, long hug and tell dem dat every teeng going be beddah soon.

I bet, if you try teenk back to wen you was one keed, you wen learn lessons one of two ways. You eeedah wen go learn da lesson da easy way, or learn'um da hahd way. Well, try go read dis story and go figah out which way I wen go learn one of life's lesson.

Wen I was one small keed, around da age of 9 yeeyahs young, my ohana made it one habit to go camping down Kaaawa beach, juss pass da old ruined sugah mill and juss befo' you get to Punaluu as you coming from da Windward sai. Doze were da days of carefree bliss undah da bright Hawaiian sun, pearly sands and clear watahs. Camping was one treat fo' my bruddah and myself 'cause it also meant dat we would be spending da summah wit all our cousins, aunties and uncles. Was truly one family reunion wenevah we went.

Anyway, getting to da meat of da story.... One day my fuddah wen go geeve me one whole dollah fo' spend. Was one of da rare times when I must have done someteeg good and got rewarded. So den, of course, I wen head to da stoah down da street like one bumble bee going aftah one nectar dripping lilikoi flowah. I no have to tell you how my mout must have been dripping wit anticipation fo' my favorite candy! RED LIQUORISH, or as they call it today, RED VINE. Eh, no ask me why dat particular candy was my obsession back den, but I'm shuah if you teenk back to yo'wah hannabuddah days, I bet you could name at least a 1/2 dozen ono kine candies you used to like eat back den.

Wen my makas (eyes) wen go spawk (see) dat treasure of red liquorices sitting on Uncle Barney's store counter, whooooohooooo! I couldn't wait until I get some in my mout!

"Gimme 100 of doze, Uncle Barney", I pointed to da delicious red candies and tugged on the store owner's T-shirt.

"What? ...You going have one liquorish pah'tee today?" He wen go ask me in amazement, making shuah he counted 100 precious tummy ticklers.

I made shuah I wen wrap da buggahs good so dat wen I stick em in my elastic waist band in my pants behind my back undah my T-shirt, da buggahs wasn't going fall out and be lost. You might be wondering how come I wen go stick da candies in'sai my pants behind my back, yeah? *hee hee* Maybe you was one keed like me and you don't have to wondah about dat, cause you already get one pretty good idea why I was hiding da buggahs.

Approaching da campgrounds... there was my cousins playing dodge ball. Even befoah anyone could ask me wheah I was, I wen sneak behind da tent so dey no see me. Da same way I wen sneak da bag of candies in my pants behind my back undah my T-shirt, I was hiding'um from dem. Eh, I had 100 of doze treasures, and I nevah like SHARE! Tippy-toe, pass da coconut trees, pass da uddah tents... if my moddah was one lion in Africa, she would be so proud of da way I could sneak around and not be heard or seen. Whooooohoooo, I was good!

There was a patch of low growing mangroves about a quartah mile down da beach wea I knew I wasn't going be boddah'd. As soon as I wen clear da tents, I wen break out in one fass sprint.... my legs was beating da sand so hard and my mout was wide open fo' gulp in da air so dat I no faint from lack of oxygen. I bet if sum'buddy was watching, they'd teenk I wen see one obake (ghost) and I was running fo' my life! As soon as I wen hit da mangroves I wen spring so high landing on one of da branches, catapulting up to da next branch, den vaulting, yet, to one uddah branch like one monkey dat could have given lessons to Tarzan himself! Finally... at da most tippy-top my okole (butt) got parked. Way up dea, above da sand, I could watch da waves crash on da shore and roll right up undah da mangrove, where, I was finally all by myself, wit my 100 red l liquorishs. Is dat not Keiki heaven, or what?

One by one... bite by bite.... doze red treasures was disappearing. Nibble by nibble, I was on top of da world until ... WEA WENT? Not quite 100 of the red liquorices were gone, but was close. Whoooooo... minutes passed. What was dat 'oogie' feeling beginning to creep all ovah da body. You know da kine sensation you get wen yo'wah skeen staht to crawl and beads of sweat staht oozing out at da forehead even doe not hot. Plus da swaying of da branches I was sitting in nevah help at all, and da constant rolling in of da waddah undaneet me down below was enough to trigger....

Auwe! As fass as da candy wen in, dat buggah came right on up and out! Look out below! Good ting nobody was walking below because they'd wondah how come was raining red! Yeah, yeah, I know dis is kind of gross. But it happened!

And I'm only telling you dis story because there is a lesson in most EVERYTHING, if you are willing to learn. As one keiki, I wen learn da HARD WAY how "NOT" to be one selfish, greedy, oinking pig. Being one selfish keiki at dat time wen only get me SICK. Maybe for litto while, I wen enjoy. But give it time in my selfishness, wen really wen turn my stomach!

And den? How you figah dis litto lesson would apply to us as adults? What if we consider da candy in da story da ALOHA we all have? We can be like one litto stingy, selfish, greedy keiki and HOG what we have, keeping it to ourselves. I don't know about you, but I wen learn my lesson long ago. Dat 'candy' was meant to be shared. And if I shared it back then, I wouldn't have gotten sick to my stomach and fed da crabs. You can bet your slippahs dat I not going do dat again. Unlike candy, ALOHA is a maddah of da heart. If we are selfish and play HOG with Aloha, our HEARTS would be SICK. Let's not learn da hahd way, yeah? Instead, we go share da ALOHA we have wit uddahs.

Izzie Kikue was born in Honolulu and raised in Kaneohe, Hawaii. She now resides with her ohana several minutes southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Her career has involved being Director of Ministries and a Certified Biblical/Pastoral Counselor for a large Christian Ministry in Southern California and later in Georgia. With a Th.D. (Dr./Theology), she devoted much of her time and energy traveling to third world countries offering physical and spiritual aide to people who needed assistance due to war situations and other misfortunes. Izzie is currently taking a breather from overseas travels and is now focusing her time and energy on her nani daughter, as well as "Bringing Aloha to the Internet" as AlohaWorld*s co-owner and host.