Thursday, April 4, 2013

Aloha Oe (Originally posted July 04, 2005)

I am the youngest of three.  There was  a two year gap between the birth of child number 1 and child number two in our house, but at the ripe age of 34, six years later, Bumma found herself expecting for a third time.  Bumma, for 84, is still a lovely looking woman, but in earlier days, she was absolutely stunning.  She had a healthy, earthy glow about her, totally natural and fresh (especially given the fashions of the 50's...)  My elder brother recalls how kids in the neighborhood would come to our house just to look at her and bask in her warmth.

I wasn't a terribly big baby, but as the days moved into summer, Bumma recalls how graceless and cumbersome she felt.  Her body was not the slim shape she was so accustomed to.  Summers in the Washington DC area are sticky and hot.  She lumbered through her days, feeling slightly elephantine and clumsy, and even recalls that she couldn't fit through some doorways if she was sideways.  She's a little slip of a thing--5'2' at her peak, maybe 100 pounds soaking wet.

One evening, she and my father were out with friends, when they saw a Hawaiian dancer.  Bumma was captivated by the flowing motions of the dance, the gentle sway of the woman's hips and enchanting movements of the hands and arms as the dancer danced her story.  The hula clearly called to my mother, a daughter of Jewish immigrants, who was born and raised in Brooklyn and Brighton Beach.  The soft music of another beach and the islands ensnared her heart. 

And thus, after I was born, my mother learned to hula dance.  She and her friends met to take lessons.  Mildred Kushner became so entranced that she formally changed her name to Milanii Lee.  Bumma didn't go to such measures, but loved the dance.  She was never brave enough to dance in public, but would dance at home, for my father.  Each day, she'd practice in front of the mirror.  I still remember sitting on the floor watching her...the long mirror in her bedroom, the rays of sunlight streaming through the window, dust motes dancing in the beams--and my beautiful mother swaying in the rhythm of the music.  On rare occasions, she'd take out a grass skirt she had acquired somewhere and dance in that.  The fronds had a swish and whisper that added to the cadence of the dance.  It was magical.

Bumma recalls how she'd look down at her youngest child, a golden headed girl, sitting on the floor next to her.  And as Bumma moved her arms and hands to tell a story, the little girl at her feet also waved her little arms in time to the music. 

It was one such day that the phone rang while Bumma danced.  The call came from her elder brother.  Her beloved mother, Ida, was ill--comatose.  Years later, when Bumma was telling the story of her mother's death, I asked her if that was the time she stopped dancing and cried on the phone.  I was two.  I still remember.  Bumma left that day to be at her mother's side. 

Ida died that weekend.  Bumma never danced the hula again.

ALOHA OE

© 1878
Lyrics & Music: Queen Liliuokalani; English lyrics © 1923 arr. By Chas. E. King

Despite the common story that the Queen composed "Aloha Oe" while imprisoned in the Palace during the overthrow of the monarchy, George Kanahele in Hawaiian Music and Musicians states it was common knowledge at the time that she wrote the song during a horseback ride to the ranch of Edwin Boyd in Maunawili, inspired by the giving of a lei to one of her party by a Hawaiian girl at the gate of the ranch.

ALOHA OE
Queen Liliuokalani


English

Proudly swept the rain cloud by the cliffs,
As on it glided through the trees
Still following ever the "liko"
The "Ahihi lehua" of the vale...

Farewell to thee,
Farewell to thee,
Thou charming one who dwellst among the bow'rs.
One fond embrace,
Before I now depart,
Until we meet again.

Thus sweet memories come back to me,
Bringing fresh remembrance of the past
Dearest one, yes, thou art mine own,
From thee, true love shall ne'er depart.

(Chorus)

I have seen and watched thy loveliness,
Thous sweet Rose of Maunawili,
And 'tis there the birds oft love to dwell
And sip the honey from thy lips.

Proudly swept the rain cloud by the cliffs,
As on it glided through the trees
Still following ever the "liko"
The "Ahihi lehua" of the vale...

Farewell to thee,
Farewell to thee,
Thou charming one who dwellst among the bow'rs.
One fond embrace,
Before I now depart,
Until we meet again.

Thus sweet memories come back to me,
Bringing fresh remembrance of the past
Dearest one, yes, thou art mine own,
From thee, true love shall ne'er depart.

(Chorus)

I have seen and watched thy loveliness,
Thous sweet Rose of Maunawili,
And 'tis there the birds oft love to dwell
And sip the honey from thy lips.

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