Aloha and happy summer!
Memorial
Day is such a special event here in Hawaii. People here really know how to pay
tribute and respect to the fallen. Last year I stumbled upon a flyer from the
Department of Agriculture inviting volunteers to join together and string leis
for the graves of fallen soldiers. Flower donations came in from every Hawaiian
island for the event. I have never walked into such a beautiful smelling
building. I was able to talk Brady into going and together we were able to pay
our respect by stringing nearly 80 leis.
This year I had my eyes
open for the same event until I heard of an even bigger way to pay tribute to
our fallen soldiers and to all of those lost who have walked before us. The
Lantern Floating ceremony is inspired by the ancient Asian religious traditions
and made more contemporary for the Honolulu ceremony. This year over 50,000
residents and visitors flooded Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach to see the
lanterns being casted off into the water.
The
ceremony started at sunset. Slowly, 6,000 lanterns were set afloat in the
waters and sent off with love and prayers. It was such a calming
beautiful ceremony. The whole two hours we spent down at the shore was filled
with great reflection and honor. I have no other way to describe the beauty of
this experience.
I stole a handful of these awesome photos from my girls Greta and Jenna because they were down in the water casting off their lanterns and got such beautiful shots! I'm so happy I was able to enjoy this beautiful ceremony on our last Memorial Day in Hawaii. As our time here is drawing nearer to the end I make it a point to soak in every part of every experience. Hawaii is truly is the most beautiful place. Thanks for stopping in.
Erin
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