Meet Aloisia, Malia & Siauli, sisters of Samoan Heritage.

Meet Aloisia, Malia and Siauli, these sisters are of Samoan Heritage. For Samoans, family is everything! They are incredibly communal and very grounded in their faith. While chatting, Betsy learned that Malia just graduated from high school which was bittersweet for them. Aloisia said that in 2016, they lost her 18 year old brother, Lerenimo after a 10 month long hospital stay. At 17 years old, and in his senior year of high school, he suddenly took ill and spent the last 10 months, of his young life, fighting to stay alive. They said Lerenimo had an amazing voice and could sing like an angel. They also laughed and joked about his nickname, saying that they used to call him “Nemo”. He had a wonderful sense of humor and would always tell doctors that his name was “Nemo” and that he “came before the fish.” Before ultimately losing his battle to his illness, Letenimo turned 18 in the hospital. Throughout those ten months, his family realized that life is far too short and taking time to nurture the relationships you have is important. Don’t wait! Tell people that you love and appreciate them. Say I’m sorry. Don’t assume people know how you feel. Slow down and hold that hug a little longer. Make time to get together; have dinner, meet for a cup of coffee with a friend. Quietly sit and watch a sunset or a sunrise together. Just be together. Every moment counts- no matter how simple it may seem. Thank you for visiting “We aren’t promised tomorrow. We aren’t even really promised today, or that next second, or minute that ticks by. We’re gifted with moments, each one precious, each one different. So take those moments and use them. Don’t let them pass by in anger. Don’t let those moments build up into silence between the two of you, because you never know if they’ll be taken, and we never know the final number of moments we’ve been awarded. Let no moment go unused. Let no moments escape where you could have expressed love for one another.”

-Rachel Van Dyken