Because of Tonga

The opening song on this youtube grabbed my attention because it was the same song that some of the family performed on Sunday at the reunion. And the "hip hop" song playing at the school is the song that Line and Dana Rae did their skit to. :D
There's good information and footage of our Tongan culture and geography in this short video by Jeffrey Phillips. I really enjoyed it!





Watching Aisea really makes me think about my Dad. I kept picturing my Dad as a boy growing up in Tonga. I remember my Dad always telling us how easy we have it in America. Every time we would complain about walking to school (which was only like 3 blocks away) he would tell us how he had to walk miles (not blocks) every day just to get to school. Hearing Aisea talk about how he can only dream about visiting the states, makes me realize how blessed I am. I'm sure my Dad had those same dreams. I'm grateful that my parents were able make those dreams come true. I'm sure it didn't come easily though. I'm only now starting to imagine what hard ships and sacrifices they faced. And all for me and my siblings. My grandparents still live in Tonga. So when my parents came to America, they were completely on their own. There was no email back then and long distance phone calls were much too expensive to be used unnecessarily. I can't imagine not being able to turn to my parents for advice or help. I can't imagine not having them there. I don't know how they did it- being thousands of miles away from everything that they knew. I don't how they did it, but I will forever be grateful. Thank you Mom and Dad for EVERYTHING! I hope I can show the same heroism to my kids that you have shown to me. Ofa atu,

Kiki