Maya Soetoro-Ng

Today after a Newman Center Service on the campus of the University of Hawai'i, I attended a presentation given by President Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng at the East West Center.

A few of my thoughts and recollections:

Maya is, no doubt, a gracious, centered, elegant, educated person who shared and "talked story"with us on a personal level.  Her topic was her mother Ann.

She spoke of the courage and humor of her mother while she wove in the life of her mother as an Anthopologist who would often ask her children to look at their surroundings from many perspectives.

She wanted her children to work in the rice paddies and wanted them to understand what it was like to be very poor.  She took them on her research trips and continuously encouraged them to open their eyes not only from their viewpoint but the viewpoint of others.  Ann started microbanking long before others because she knew of the needs of the village people.

During her mother's illness she was able to laugh.  At first she told Maya that she would like her ashes to be high on a hill under a large tree and then she changed her mind.  Her friends were spread in many lands and somehow being spread out in the ocean she felt she awould be able to travel and reach out to them some way.

Her mother never had a large home to display her collections.  After her death there were many boxes of cards and many things that her mother collected.  For example her 48 rice paddy hats!  There were many artefacts and Indonesian puppets that, in time got moldy and had to be tossed.  Maya wanted to keep more but again, space was a factor.  With the things that Maya saved there is, at present, and exhibit in the East West Center Gallery.  A must see!



what I will call her mother's broadminded Olympic spirit.

Two Summer Olympics Not Attended

A few posts back I mentioned that I would explain how I missed two Summer Olympics during the nineteen eighties.  Quite simply, my babies had priority.  I gave birth to my son Don in 1979 and to my daughter in 1981.

Most of you know that there were three Oympics during that decade '80, '84 and '88.  Oh how fortunate for us that the '84 Games came to Southern California.  The freeways were wide open between Dana Point and Los Angeles.  Yes, incredibly wide open.

Prior to the games went to Long Beach Post Office to purchase first day issue sailing post cards so we would have something to trade.

Prepared my home for company beforehand.  Even had a loft built in order to be able to house family and friends.  Had my mother come from the East Coast and my sister and her children come from the Northwest, Tacoma, Washington.

As always, Opening Ceremony tickets were difficult.  But for some reason, these were more difficult than ever.  So we stayed outside the coliseum and gave the only ticket we had to the most important person in our group, my mom.  Was that a good decision?  Yes indeed.  And I reaped even more pleasure from it when I would hear her rave about it for the rest of her life!  Opah!!!

iSad

Thanks Steve Jobs, using your tools enhanced my experiences at the Olympics.  And your words enhanced my life.

Rest in peace.


"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice."
Steve Jobs