Last week, Thelldine Wegesend (aka Auntie Thelldine), passed away on her 70th birthday after months of dealing with cancer.
She was married to my Uncle Warren (who is the brother to my mother) and had 6 children. While my mother's side is Puerto Rican, Portuguese & German, Auntie Thelldine was Native Hawaiian.
Uncle Warren & Auntie Thelldine raised their 6 kids out in Waianae, which is as far away from where I was growing up (Kalihi, in urban Honolulu) as you could get within this island. Our families will sometimes take long rides to visit each other.
Uncle Warren & Auntie Thelldine later moved to Mililani, which is on the other side of the mountains but a totally different world from Waianae.
They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ & Latter-Day Saints (LDS). I know some of her grandchildren did missions for the church in various places around the world.
As an adult, I haven't interacted with them much except in family reunions (which happens circa every 6 - 8 years), and on Facebook (though she didn't say much there in recent years).
The last time I saw Auntie Thelldine was at my grandma's funeral in November 2019.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2019/11/grandmas-funeral.html
And before that, the last time I saw her was in 2013 at her house in Mililani! That was at a family reunion visiting several relatives who live on that side of the island.
Even though my interactions with her over the years have been very limited, I will always remember her being very nice to me. That would be the most important memory of all.
Rest in Peace Auntie Thelldine.
