Page 2 - MidWeek - June 23, 2021

2 MIDWEEK JUNE 23, 2021
wo months ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that about 15% of Hawai‘i’s adults remained unsure or hesitant about getting a
travel to the mainland for business and would stay with my mother in her apartment overlooking Santa Monica Bay in California. It was a long trip, but we loved visit- ing with her.
snapping her fingers — “just like that.”
coronavirus vaccination. That wait-and-see attitude is still in play, even with positive vaccine results worldwide and widespread incentives being dangled locally for anyone who gets a shot. And we know that Hawai‘i people love to gamble. But not getting vaccinated — gambling with your life (or the lives of those around you)? Not so much fun. That 15% figure represents over 120,000 adults here — a lot of still cautious and/or doubting vacci-waiters.
Mother was a chain smok- er. On one visit, I blurted out before thinking or taking into account that we were her guests, “Mom, your apart- ment smells like cigarette smoke. I mean everything — the sheets, the towels.”
The author’s mother gave up smoking, something she loved, because the love she had for her daughter was even greater.
She gave up something she enjoyed for the love she had in her heart for me. She told me she had no cravings whatsoever and never wanted to smoke again.
So exactly when will wait and see morph into “OK, now I feel comfortable?” After all, it’s been six months since the first mass vaccines were given, and things seem to be working out quite well. Need more proof? How come? We’ve had proof for decades about the value of avoiding cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, fried food, processed food and sugary drinks, yet many ignore good science and keep right on trucking.
I was immediately sorry. My mother, Dorothy, was a playwright and producer who lived at her typewriter pound- ing away with her favorite Pall Mall dangling out of the side of her mouth. She’ d be- gun smoking at a time it was
When we arrived at her apartment she asked if I no- ticed anything different?
Sandra Knight Stephenson is a writer, filmmaker, artist and spiritual coach who lives in Kailua. She has acted in many Hollywood feature films and television series, and most recently produced and co-wrote a documentary film on the 20th century mys- tic Joel Goldsmith.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
Aside from the ridiculous political overtones the vacci- nation concept originally took, some people are probably tired of “the man” telling them what to do, what to put or not put into their bodies. I get it. When the world seems reduced to eating just kale, blueberries and walnuts, it’s not much fun. But vaccinations are more than just about “me.” They’re about everyone you come in contact with, love, like or hope to see again.
socially acceptable, and the habit helped her through a challenging life. My father went missing in World War
About a year after I had complained about the smoke smell, I received a call from her as my husband and I were about to fly off again to Cali- fornia. She told me she had a
“When I thought about you traveling so far, and what a joy that is for me, I wanted to give you a gift to show how much I appreciate it. I said to myself, ʻI’m going to stop smoking.’ A nd I did it,” —
How sad would it be if after 16 months, you get a wick- ed case of COVID with possible lifelong complications? After all, you’ve managed to get by so far. Some don’t have the wherewithal to get to vaccination sites due to schedules, economics, or a true understanding of the situ- ation. The state is doing a lot to help those people through convenient community and mobile sites, working with ethnic elders to spread the word, etc.
KELLEY
A Perfect Gift
“One of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves, is to decide that we
are no longer willing to be stuck in the past or to be fearful of the future.”
E— Jerry Jampolsky
TWhy Wait Now?
very few months back in the 1980s, my hus- band and I would
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
II and was eventually found in London, recuperating from severe shrapnel wounds. It could not have been easy raising four young children during this time, but she didn’t give up. She eventual- ly became a successful play- wright and producer. She al- ways kept her spirits up, and she loved her cigarettes.
gift for me. I couldn’t imag- ine what it was.
That was the most beauti- ful gift I have ever received.
No I hadn’t.
“I stopped smoking. Go smell the towels.”
“Oh, Mom, they’re so fresh. How did you do it?”
Some avoiders here also still don’t believe the corona- virus threat. Not sure what part of millions of deaths or tens of millions incapacitated in some way (possibly for life) sounds phony or conspiratorial, but I hope you don’t find out the truth the hard way.
Let’s push beyond the so-called herd immunity thresh- old soon here. Let’s be No. 1 in saving lives and avoiding the coronavirus spread. It sure beats being No. 1 in cost of living, housing, milk, Spam consumption and doing business.
Think about it ...
with Sandra Knight Stephenson
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com