Happy Thanksgiving from Kokua Line, where we devote today’s column to readers’ expressions of gratitude.
Mahalo
After my husband’s brief illness and death, our neighbor, Reid S., took over walking Lucy, my husband’s standard poodle. When needed, his wife, Cathy, and daughter, Hannah, stepped in to help. This almost 80-year-old is incredibly grateful — and Lucy is even more so! — Jean M.
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MAHALO TO a most gracious lady who paid for my food purchase at Don Quijote in Waipahu. I did not have enough (cash only) to pay and started to count my coins. She offered to pay for it and refused to accept the partial payment I could offer. It gives me hope that kind people like her still exist in a troubled world. — Thankful senior
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ON OCT. 30, I was locked out of my car at the downtown post office and a gentleman by the name of Mark helped me to call AAA for roadside assistance. He was on his lunch break and my purse with my phone was locked in my car. I am so grateful for his kindness and time. I guess we still have respectful and kind people. Thank you to Mark. — Aloha, Karen
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MAHALO TO the young, female UPS driver who found our car keys in the middle of the street fronting our Kilauea Avenue home in Kaimuki at the end of October. My husband had placed his set of keys on my car hood and I drove off without noticing; they fell off. This trustworthy UPS driver found them in the street, pressed the key fob alarm button, heard my husband’s vehicle sound and walked all the way to our doorstep to return his keys. Big mahalo for finding them before anyone ran them over and for taking the time to locate us! — Grateful Kaimuki ohana
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A BELATED, sincere “thank you” to the person or people who paid for our meal at Big City Diner at Windward Mall on Oct. 5. You hear of others in this same situation — it happened to us! Mahalo, whoever you are. We greatly appreciate your kind gesture. — Grateful mother and daughter
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I WANT to acknowledge my gratitude to the person who turned in my ID to Bank of Hawaii Kahala branch personnel on Oct. 30 at about 2:30 p.m. I thought it had fallen out of my pocket in the car. I was told it was found in the parking lot outside the bank. Big headache averted with your kind actions. Mahalo! — Disabled senior
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MY HUGE mahalo to the honest person who returned the black cloth purse that was left in a shopping cart in the Kunia Walmart parking lot. You will be in my heart forever. — Sincerely grateful kupuna
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ON NOV. 3, I took my first bus ride in 23 years. I did not know what to expect, but in the end had a memorable experience taking a round trip from Kahala Mall to Kaneohe and back. For this, I want to thank the driver of the Route 69 bus, who answered my questions and explained the route to me. — Very grateful reader
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BIG THANKS to our garbage collectors and our mail carriers. Our Opala Crew rides and works picking up and throwing bags into the large truck. Rain or shine, they work with only two holidays — Christmas and New Year’s Day. People leave broken glass, rotten food items and bulky junk in bags that often break. Lifting and cleaning the mess adds to their work. Our mail carrier delivers various kinds and shapes of mail, sometimes riding the truck or walking from house to house, regardless of weather conditions, barking dogs and broken mailboxes, etc. Various schedules are set to ensure mail delivery for regular or special delivery items. Reliability and flexibility are critical. Appreciation and respect is appropriate for these workers, who are so often taken for granted. Mahalo! — Thank you, Grandma Nohea
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I WANT to express my appreciation for fast-food counter help, who should be recognized for their friendliness, helpfulness and hard work amid staff shortages. Thank you Janese at Kapolei Zippy’s and Lorelei at Kapolei Walmart McDonald’s. — Grateful customer
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WE WENT to the original Liliha Bakery for lunch on Nov. 14 and sat at the counter (it has been many years since we ate at the counter). While we were eating, I saw one of the other waitresses come over and take the tray with the bill that was placed in front of us — I figured that it had been placed there by mistake. A bit later, while awaiting our bill, that same waitress informed us that a man had paid for our meals and didn’t want to be identified. We have no idea who you are, but thank you very much for your kindness and generosity. Was it a stranger or someone we knew but didn’t recognize? We’ll never know. We hope you see this — you made our day! We are so thankful that there are people like you in our crazy world. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone — take care and be safe! — Denis and Wini
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
