Have you ever had anyone named after you?

Did I ever tell you I have a namesake? Not a niece, or cousin, or even a family friend...but a dog. A dog named K, it's actually a Hawaiian name but I don't use it here in Texas 'cause no one can pronounce it. She was a cute little black puppy 12 years ago when I left home and my cousin B named her after me. B and I were close, like two peas in a pod close. We spent every weekend together, my life consisted of my family and that's about it.

When I lived in Hawaii it was all about the ohana. There were guys always in the background but my strongest bond was with my cousins (mostly male). We got together every weekend and supported Budweiser. We could easily finish off cases and cases of beer and we frequently did. If you're not from Hawaii it's difficult to understand the relationships formed. Hawaii is EXPENSIVE! Which is why so many families live at home for many, many years and I was no exception. I had a cottage behind my parents main house since we lived on a big acre of land. This cottage was never locked because so much family came and went. It was never empty, even when I was at work, one or more of my cousins was asleep on the couch. These were good days and I never worried about going out and getting drunk because I was with my ohana and we always took care of each other.

Anyhow, back to my namesake. The time came when I got serious about someone (Big Red) and I decided to leave Hawaii to be with him. Only when I went home again this past week did I learn what a big deal this was. Apparently one of my brothers had called my cousins to action to do a background check on my future husband because they needed to find out who this guy was taking me away from my home! It was most traumatic for B because we were so close. So before I left home he got a puppy to replace me. As if one could. I found out last week that this dog is still alive and living with my other cousin F and doing fabulous! We are a hearty stock. B left Hawaii as well to live in his wife's home state up east. Most of us drifted away...it has been 12 years.

Many good things came out of going home for my grandmother's funeral...we celebrated her life and for the first time since I moved away all of us grand kids got together again to reconnect. We came from Virginia, Maryland, Texas, Idaho, California, Kauai, and the Big Island and this is exactly what she would have wanted. The night of the funeral we toasted to her and got old time drunk and spent the evening saying "remember when...". Man, I'm exhausted and need to get used to the time difference. Beer and I will be taking a brief vacation from one another for a while but I have no doubt we will see each other again in the very near future.

K