05/11/2025
Repost Story Time: The Lei That Found Its Way
Every year, without fail, my Uncle Eugene Hunt would call us late the night before Mother’s Day, asking if we had any lei left for his wife, Aunty Chelle. It became a tradition, and even after his passing last April, we made a promise to him: as long as we’re in the lei business, we’ll always take care of Aunty Chelle.Uncle Eugene always requested something scented. This year, all we had was plumeria, so I decided to make hers extra special—a thick, double plumeria strand.
While I was making it, I found myself lost in thought. One of our longtime customers recently lost a child, and I suddenly realized I hadn’t seen her husband’s name on our order list this year. He’s usually one of the first to order and always picks something beautiful for her (when I say beautiful, there were many times our husbands got the same lei, which says a lot because my husband always gets me the best) I thought, “This Mother’s Day must be especially hard for her—we should make sure she gets a lei.”
I finished the double plumeria for Aunty Chelle and stepped out to the garage to store it in the fridge for her son to pick up. Just as I opened the door, there they were—the grieving mother and her husband, standing right in front of me. My heart dropped.
I told her I had just been thinking about her, and how I was going to ask my husband if we could drive over and deliver a lei to her. She smiled and said her husband had dropped the ball this year—they only managed to get a single strand of plumeria.
In that moment, I knew the double lei I had just made wasn’t meant for Aunty Chelle. It was meant for her. I like to believe it was her child’s way of saying, “Please, upgrade my mom.”
I handed them the thick, fragrant double plumeria lei and immediately went back to start on another one for Aunty Chelle. I didn’t think I would have enough flowers to make another double plumeria, but as you can see in the second picture, it was all meant to be. The grieving mother was upgraded and the widow was taken care of.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mama out there.
Mahalo Nui Loa to everyone who supports our small lei business. Aloha plenty
