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Colleen Uechi's Aug. 5-6 Weekender article on the passing of the Kahului Florist torch stirred memories as sweet as the scent of roses.
If I had a dollar for every red rose my late husband Barry gave me during our 23 years together -- I'd have just enough money for a Happy Meal. But my first husband was as sentimental as I am, and roses were his love language. Our courtship and marriage lasted less than five years, but during that time, Jim bought me roses for every special occasion: usually a dozen red beauties, sometimes a single Sterling Silver, but always from Kahului Florist.
Jim Collins had moved to Maui less than a year before we met, but he was familiar with local businesses like Kahului Florist and Hokama's Music & Color TV, because he voiced many of their commercials on KMVI Radio. Doris Nishimura and Masa Hokama were among the mom-and-pop store owners who helped Jim and his best friend, L.D. Reynolds, assimilate into the community. Auntie Doris seemed to get a kick out of these two haole disc jockeys who relied on her to help them "say it with flowers."
When Jim and I tied the knot in a very small, informal ceremony, Kahului Florist provided our wedding flowers: a bridal bouquet of red roses, naturally, and double carnation leis, also red, for Jim and L.D. Auntie Doris also made a dainty pikake headpiece for me.
Throughout my childhood and well into my adult years, Kahului Florist was part of every auspicious occasion. My earliest memory of the little shop in Kahului Shopping Center was after my grandfather's passing. While my mother and aunt discussed floral arrangements with Auntie Doris, I wandered around the buckets of snapdragons and statice, dazzled by the abundance of colors. I watched as another auntie put the finishing touches on a funeral wreath, gently wrapping a black ribbon with "Beloved Mother" in gold lettering across the front.
Because we shopped "under the monkeypod trees" so often (Ah Fook's, Toda Drug, Ben Franklin, Peggy & Johnny's), I guess it was easier for mom and Auntie Sachan to stop by than call in their orders. Sometimes, we just dropped in to say hi, but most of our visits were prompted by births in the family, friends' hospital stays or special dinner celebrations. I always enjoyed watching Auntie Doris work on centerpieces or bouquets while she chatted with customers, the same way I would gaze in amazement at my Auntie Alice cleaning and slicing fish at Ah Fook's. Both were masters at their craft, but Auntie Doris' shop smelled a lot better.
Auntie Doris and, later, her daughter Natalie, provided leis, bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres for every school banquet, prom, and, of course, graduation. Once, I think it was in my fifth or sixth grade year, my mother ordered a jade lei for my Makawao School May Day celebration. I don't remember the specific reason for such indulgence, but I do recall feeling grown-up, elegant and unconditionally loved.
Though, happily, Natalie and nearly all of the current employees will continue to work for the new owners, this feels like the end of an era. Truly, an auspicious occasion. In lieu of flowers, I offer this garland of happy memories. And I know I speak for thousands of Mauians in delivering a sincere, heartfelt mahalo to the Kahului Florist and Nishimura 'ohana for 60-plus years of aloha.
* Kathy Collins is a radio personality (The Buzz 107.5 FM and KEWE 97.9 FM/1240 AM), storyteller, actress, emcee and freelance writer whose "Sharing Mana'o" column appears every other Wednesday. Her email address is kcmaui913@gmail.com.