tragedy in paradise
My cousin is missing.
Most likely burned up in the fire that ripped through Lahaina, Maui 5 days ago.
The List of Missing People
There is a Google Doc being circulated online. It’s called the Maui Fires People Locator.
There are 5,074 people on that list. People who were missed by a loved one who was trying to track them down.
Thankfully, next to the majority of names it says Found in bright green letters. Next to the word found, it lists how they were presumably found alive and well.
Name on evacuation sheet.
Safe confirmed via text message.
Name written on shelter check in sheet.
Confirmed safe by daughter.
Posted on Facebook.
Next to a few of the names is the blue word Deceased. Followed by Rest in Love.
Next to my cousin’s name and 1000 others are the words Not Located in red.
Not located. Never heard from. Missing for 5 days and counting.
There is nothing next to the words Not Located. Just an empty box waiting to be filled.
Lahaina, Maui
Number 3092 on the Maui Fires People Locator is another cousin of mine.
Next to his name is the green word Found. Thank goodness.
There was no word from him the first night the fires ripped through Lahaina. And, his house was right in the epicenter of the fire.
He lived in the house my grandparents lived in. The house I used to visit every summer growing up.
I picture my grandfather eating his daily breakfast of white bread soaked in hot water, milk and sugar at the kitchen table.
I picture him strolling contentedly around his extensive yard of tropical plants, including a little pond for the turtle that also called this place home.
But, the turtle is no more. The house is gone now. Burned to the ground.
My cousin left with nothing except the word Found.
The last time I visited that house was in 2019. We brought my dad to Maui for the farewell tour. For his last vacation home before dementia stole the rest of his memory.
My dad looks happy in the photos I have of him walking around the backyard. He’s smiling.
Front Street
In the next couple photos on my phone, my dad, mom, and cousin are enjoying their stroll under the iconic 150 year old banyan tree. The tree we all hope will survive this week’s torching of Front Street.
We need a symbol that life will go on.
My dad grew up on Front Street, Lahaina. My grandparents had a restaurant there that sold chowfun. A homemade noodle, with a top secret family recipe. A chewy fat noodle that they stir fried then served in a brown butcher paper cone that would soak up all the excess oil.
The apartment that my dad lived in was attached to the restaurant. It’s funny how he became an architect, even though he had never lived in a house. Just a tiny apartment on the main drag of Lahaina.
When we visited last, the restaurant had been long sold and modernized. Made into a large pizza parlor. But, there was still a plaque on the wall about my grandparent’s restaurant. Liberty restaurant it was called. It served the locals and GIs , the soldiers that passed through. This was long before Front Street became the tourist mecca of the island.
Now, the plaque and the whole of Front Street are just a memory. A memory saved on my phone and in my heart.
I’m glad my dad missed this fire. He would have been heartbroken.
He would have been so worried about his missing nephew, my Not Located cousin.
Number 5105 0n the Maui Fires People Locator. Wishing you peace, Todd.
To all those who have lost a house or a business, or a turtle, or a loved one. My heart goes out to you.
Go hug all your loved ones now.
xoxo Lani
