Have You Hugged Your Keiki Today?

Keiki (pronounced as "kay key") means child in the Hawaiian language or literally "the little one". We celebrate a child's first birthday with a luau of festivities. Family and friends gather round for a joyous occasion.

In ancient Hawaiian times, there were feasts to acknowledge a special occasion such as a birth of a child, a great harvest or a battle that was won. They held these festivities to honor the gods who allowed these great ‘miracles' to happen.

Back in the day the Hawaiians called it ‘aha ‘aina or gathering of a feast and men ate separately from the the women. All commoners and women (of all ranks) were forbidden to eat certain delicacies.

In 1819, King Kamehameha II got rid of the old traditional practices of eating separately from the women and commoners and threw a grand ole feast where all people gathered.

From then on the ‘luau' (loo ow) that is celebrated today was born. (BTW....luau is the Hawaiian word for the tender leaves of the taro plant used in cooking)

We all celebrate birthdays but understanding a bit of the why of everything they are experiencing while visiting or residing in Hawaii will give those an ‘aha' moment.

There are reasons for everything.

Every single day of life is a celebration so please don't forget to hug your keiki today.

In fact, stop to hug someone you sincerely care about

It takes so little to show a bit of kindness.

~~~~~~~~~~