Letters for May 27, 2015

Letters for May 27, 2015

Politics and people go together

Mr. Mickens occasionally writes meaningful commentary but his persistence on having a county manager is beyond my understanding. He states this will keep politics beyond consideration. How does one avoid politics when people are involved and have choices?

Monroe Richman

Koloa

Sorry for breaching confidentiality

I want to apologize for some incorrect statements that I wrote in a recent letter toThe Garden Island news. I especially want to humbly apologize to Val Kaneshiro and the Kaneshiro clan. As a NAMI volunteer, I broke the most important tradition we have, and that is confidentiality. NAMI is meant to be a safe haven for the families that have loved ones suffering from a mental illness.

I want to say that I am so passionate about the work I do; when I wrote that letter, I was reacting as a mom, not even thinking that I was breaking confidentiality. I feel Val’s grief in the loss of her son Eben. What I did do, was assume she participated in NAMI for Eben, when in fact it was for another loved one in her family.

Because of the circumstances of Eben’s death, it made sense to me that he had a mental illness. I assumed the possibility that mixed martial arts might have created brain damage. I assumed that Val was seeking help for her situation with Eben. I did not know that to be a fact. This all happened before I became a volunteer with NAMI. I was totally wrong and out of place to first make that assumption, and secondly to put confidential information in the letter.

I want to reassure the Kauai community that the discussions in our classes and support groups are in total confidence. I was so upset by Mr. Clay’s assumption and lack of empathy, that I spoke out of turn and have hurt a very kind and loving Kauai family. For that, I hope all of you will accept my apology. I have to remember the key goals of NAMI programs: a safe harbor for those in search of knowledge and talking stories of their loved ones’ struggles with mental illness.

Kathy Sheffield

NAMI Kauai

Lifeguard went beyond call of duty

Our family has just recently returned from another wonderful vacation on your beautiful island and we’d like to take this opportunity to publicly recognize and say thanks to the lifeguard who helped rescue my son-in-law at Kee Beach in early May.

Our son-in-law was snorkeling along the reef with another family member when he got caught in the rip tide and panicked. The other family member (a former lifeguard himself) was able to hold him up for a short time until the lifeguard was able to reach them both on his rescue board. All ended well until our son-in-law reached shore and realized that in the struggle out in the water, his wedding ring had slipped off. Our daughter and son-in-law were both just devastated! The amazing lifeguard then volunteered to return to the water along with several family members to look for the ring.

Miraculously, he located it and then dove down about 15 feet to retrieve it for our family. This was way above-and-beyond the call of duty and we would like everyone to know how truly grateful our family is for his actions. We believe our rescuer’s name was McCollum (sorry if we misspelled it). Kauai is extremely lucky to have a such well-trained, personable and carrying individuals working to keep everyone safe. Many, many thanks from our entire family.

Sandy Earle

New Westminster, B. C.