Aloha,

In 2002 my wife and I made our first trip to the Hawaiian Islands. I had a driving desire to go to Hawaii but had no idea why. One day I talked my wife into taking a two week vacation there. While we were there we visited Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii.

Our first introduction to Hawaiian music came from singer/song writer Danny Couch at a luau. My wife bought two of his CD's. The following day we took a helicopter tour of Kauai. During the flight between the pilot's comments he played several songs by Hapa. The music and the awesome views of Kauai touched me in a way that I had never experienced before. I have learned since that it was the mana of the islands and the first experience of the Aloha Spirit.

Normally I am a person who can only vacation for a short time and then am ready to go home. But, when time came to leave the Islands I was overcome with a deep sense of despair and a strong longing to stay. During our flight back to the mainland my wife and I spoke very little as she listened to the Danny Couch CD's. She would on occasion hand me the head phones and say listen to this song. She listened to the CD's over and over again during the flight. We listened to the CDs over and over for the next several weeks and couldn't go anywhere without listening to them. One night we were listening to "These Islands" and we broke down and cried. At this point we knew we must make another trip to Hawaii and learn as much as we could about the Hawaiian Islands. I started searching the web for anything Hawaiian especially music and have been listening to Hawaiian105 KINE ever since.

As we have learned more about the Hawaiian Islands and the culture we began listening to and enjoying the more traditional music in the Hawaiian Language. We have a deep need to keep in touch with the Islands and found that Hawaiian music helps to comfort us between our visits to the Islands since it is impossible for us to live there.

Hawaiian music will always be in our souls no matter where we are "In This Life" or the next.

Mahalo Nui Loa,

Dan S.