Loved

Can you see it? The faint heart and scrawled red word on this otherwise unmarked gravestone? It makes me wonder who lies here, and who so touchingly left this message. Are they family? Or was it a stranger visiting another grave who decided to give love to someone seemingly without?

My mom and I had visited this old Japanese cemetery before, fifteen years ago, while aimlessly exploring the back roads of Hanalei. We managed to find it again this time, with the help of Google, as our memories weren't quite clear enough to remember that you had to turn up Kumu Road, not the much longer Old Powerhouse Road. I'm glad we were able to revisit.