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I like the new Parenthood TV series, but was a little surprised on November 23, 2010, when the entire family thought it so strange that the “patriarch” (played by the actor Craig T. Nelson) wanted everyone to participate in a prayer before their Thanksgiving feast.

At first he used his grandson’s laptop computer to look a Thanksgiving prayer up online, which reminded me how General Patton in the movie Patton asked a chaplain to write a prayer for him. This also reminded me how several times former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann told the story how people had asked his secretary for copies of prayers he had given at various functions . . . and she had to tell them that his honor did not write out his prayers.

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As the third in a series on my blog about how things have changed a lot since I was a kid, I’m reminded of a prof years ago at the University of Hawaii who told us that our personal “stories” or historical heritage begins with the memories of the oldest people we’ve known. If that’s true, then for me that would essentially be my Grandma Johanna Hand [pictured at right with my dad, years before I came along], who was born in the Netherlands in 1874 and — mainly through her and my mom, because I was only a baby when he died — my Grandpa Hyrum Hand, who was born in England in 1866.

Because my Grandma Hand lived with us all the years I was growing up, and passed away at age 98 in 1972, I remember her very well. She pushes the envelope of memories and the spectrum of how things have changed back almost 150 years.

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I was listening to a long TV advertisement this past weekend that featured Pat Boone and Patti Page pushing songs from the 1950s — all quite familiar to people my age and older. It was kinda’ fun listening to the old hits, and it spurred me to write my second installment about how things have changed so dramatically in my lifetime, in this case with audio media.

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The Laie Hawaii Temple,
following 22 months of extensive renovations
(Photo by Mike Foley)

When I’m acting as editor of Kaleo: Koolauloa News — which covers the neighboring communities of Laie, Hauula and Kahuku on the north-windward short of Oahu — I try not to overwhelm our non-Mormon friends and readers with news of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BUT…

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Depending on how old you are and where you come from, some aspects of our lives have changed a lot over the years — largely due to advances in science and technology. For example, when I was a kid in the early 1950s, practically everybody on our block used a “party line.”

If you don’t know what that is, then you’re a lot younger than me and you might find what follows interesting. If you know exactly what I’m describing, you might enjoy reminiscing for a few moments.

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Over the past 40-plus years I’ve seen Maori at the Polynesian Cultural Center welcome many visiting groups of their countrymen with traditional greeting ceremonies, but I think the wero or challenge-and-acceptance protocol the PCC and Maori from the surrounding communities put on for Te Panekiretanga O Te Reo Maori on July 27, 2010, was one of the most exciting ever…

…partially because members are carefully accepted into the Napier, New Zealand-based group to study and perfect Maori language and cultural skills: Where in past groups maybe one or two of the manuhiri or visitors would respond to the challenge and karanga chants, nearly all Te Panekiretanga O Te Reo Maori members joined these thrilling moments as they entered the Maori marae at the Polynesian Cultural Center:

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We have a tradition in our Laie 4th Ward High Priests group where we invite visitors to share something about themselves beyond the usual “my name is, and I’m from” moment that we do in our adult Sunday School class . . . and on August 8, 2010, we were privileged to learn a little more about Tom Holdman from Lehi, Utah: His remarks were poignant — even more so because he has a lifelong speech impediment. Indeed, it was very touching to see him struggle sometimes just to get his thoughts into words.

Brother Holdman told us he’s in our small community doing the stained glass work on the Laie Hawaii Temple, which has been under major renovation for the past 20 months and is scheduled to be rededicated on November 21, 2010.

He explained that from childhood his severe stutter led him to express himself through art: “I believe that art is its own language,” he has said, adding he was an art major in college, and after serving a Latter-day Saint mission he prayed for inspiration about what he might do with his life. He said he received a two-word answer:

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Mt. Rushmore and surrounding region (if you don’t see a video window above,
please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWp2Q05v77E)

Almost every time I saw pictures or movies of Mt. Rushmore in the past, its grand-scale patriotism instilled in me a desire to see it in person . . . so, even though it made for several long driving days during our recent road trip through the western United States, we looked forward to reaching this unique national memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

However, the huge thunderhead clouds, which I’ve been told can reach over 30,000 feet high, that we saw as we drove into Pueblo, Colorado, two days before should have given us a clue: It started to rain that night, and dampened our plans for the next several days.

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A selection of pictures from Arches National Park near Moab, Utah (go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcZr15dhhq0 if you do not see a video window above)

The incredible natural beauty of Arches National Park — which I previously visited only once before in the mid-1970s on a photo expedition to Monument Valley — speaks for itself, but in our case, the adventure and unexpected delight of getting there enhanced the experience:

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During our June 2010 road trip on the U.S. mainland, my wife and I visited with our friend and fellow Laie 4th Ward member, Sister Napua Baker, who is currently serving as a senior missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Sister Baker told us she has been given a special assignment that is particularly appropriate and pleasing to her, but let her tell it in her own words:

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