Letters for Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013

• Support for hospital • Smart students deserve recognition • Fix road before restriping project • Reaching out during the holidays

Support for hospital

We want to add our names to those who support Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital. The West Side needs this excellent facility. It would be tragic if it should close.

Raley and Jackie Peterson

Waimea

Smart students deserve recognition

Thanks to The Garden Island for your Dec. 10 article “GIJD academic achievers honored in Mana.” So often it is only student athletes who get recognition in the newspaper. Let’s not forget to also honor and support our young people who are gifted and talented in academics and the arts. More stories please about our island youth who participate in endeavors like science and math olympiads, robotics tournaments, and art and music festivals.

Dawna J. White

Wailua Homesteads

Fix road before restriping project

I read on the county website that Kawaihau Road was going to be restriped. They are going to start at the mauka end and go all the way to the ocean. It is obvious to me that the road from Kapahi Park to the ocean is still full of cracks, dips, and holes so the road should be repaired first before they waste money and time to restripe it. County, please fix the road first. This is the type of waste that needs to be looked into.

John Robinson

Kalaheo

Reaching out during the holidays

My husband Stan and I returned from the East Coast on Dec. 3 through Honolulu, connecting to a flight that departed around 6 p.m. on Hawaiian Airlines.

Sitting behind me was a family of three. As I stowed my carry-ons  above, I noticed that the highly agitated little boy was probably around 4, he wore a nurses mask over his nose as one might do if highly allergic to the air he breathes. His mother had placed him at the window seat, she sat next to him and the gentleman on the isle was, I presume, his Dad.  

I am a mother of three and a grandmother of 11. They all live on the Mainland so I always love seeing and playing with kids on flights, in restaurants, or just about anywhere and acting as a helper for parents who are tired with struggling, bored and busy, little ones.

This obviously challenged and very frail looking child had deep lines creasing his forehead as he squirmed and cried, waving his little arms.  His weight was not good, he was also dressed in diapers. There may have been moments through out the short flight that he was not moving or crying, but they were just moments.

I offered to help carry their car seat as they deplaned but the Dad told me they were fine. As I deplaned another woman, sitting across the isle asked if I had any idea what the child was suffering from and I had to tell her that I had no clue. I chastise myself now for not talking with the Mom as she clearly worried over him in such a beautiful and gentle way.

I have worried about this tiny, beautiful child since getting off that plane. Without much luggage I wondered if they might have been returning from a visit to a medical facility on Oahu. Maybe to grandparents or family, who knows. I do know, I wish I had communicated and found out more, but I did not want to intrude.

I often thank God for the health of myself and my large family. As an only child of deceased parents, I am now the last of my generation. My children and grandchildren have lived lives, blessed by fine health. Sure there has been strife, and disappointment, loss of jobs and a divorce, but at least they and theirs are very healthy, happy.

Please take a moment this busy holiday season to reach out to the less fortunate and give them a hand or at the very least, a smile, even if you are a complete stranger. Your random act of kindness will make a huge difference in someone’s life and in your own. The gift of your caring will be acknowledged with a smile of thanks that will make your day.

If you know the family I may be speaking of, please contact them and let them know that Suzy and Stan Fiorito my be contacted at ssfiorito@gmail.com or called at (808) 828-1878. I will also watch the letters in the Garden Island news if they choose to communicate through the paper.

We live near Kilauea on the North Shore, but are willing to travel wherever these folks live, on island. If they have a really supportive ohana, thank God, but in cases like these, another couple of helping hands might be useful once in awhile.

Wishing all who read this a blessed Christmas, Happy Holidays and wonderful New Year.

Suzanne Fiorito

Kilauea