We had a wonderful time this weekend at Keanae. We went there with K and C Kepler and their family. As usual, it was a very relaxing time, so rejuvenating for the mind, body and soul.
As I said posted before, Joey loves Keanae. That's one of his favorite places on earth. Keanae holds many wonderful memories of Joey - I wonder if Joe and Karen had visited there since Joey's passing. I think it would be healing. The Keanae journal has recorded many of Joey's thoughts and reflections. It was nice reading some of them again.
The photo below was taken at the lanai (porch for those who live on the mainland :). Everyone loves that swing. You sit there, looking at the ocean and ahh... it's a bliss. Joey even took it to the next level of bliss - joy as he plays ukulele while sitting on the swing. I can almost hear the Hawaiian version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" being played.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Joey Loves Keanae
Monday, August 11, 2008
Joey At Keanae
We just got back from a relaxing weekend at Keanaea. Thank you Uncle Bill an Auntie Lu (the Keplers) for your generosity in sharing your precious Keanaea home with us. Joey also has a lot of wonderful memories there. While there, I spent some time reading his journal entries and took a shot of one of them:
I know he has many photos to go along with the many journal entries and memories. We will add more later. Here's a sample of some of them:
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Joey Johnson (by Bradley )
Joey was a great kid… a great guy. But how do I relate this in a short period of time? What story is the quintessential one that will relate this? I have been praying about this and asking advice from my PK Bros about the opportunity to share and wanted to “do it right”
This is hard because Joey was the sum of many things that made him Joey.
He was a risk taker, as Bill has talked about. This was epitomized by the amazing 80 to 85 foot leap off the cliff at Ki’pahulu. (What is equally as amazing is the Karen watched him do it.) But he never made fun of you if you chose to hang back, and not take “the leap”.
He was very intelligent & smart. Two separate qualities that are not often found in the same person. But he didn’t take advantage of you if you weren’t in the same league as him… accept on the poker table or the Fantasy Football League. He would proudly take my cash whenever we played.
He had a rye sense of humor. This coupled with being intelligent & smart made him a very funny guy. He had the ability to point out the subtle obscurely funny things in life – and did it frequently. Times playing Balderdash at Keanae will live in infamy – Joey was the supreme player! Or if you read his and Rachael’s blog you can see this. But I never saw him make fun of someone at their expense – never being mean spirited.
He was passionate about his beliefs. He would debate those ideals that he felt strongly about. Things like Trojan Football, FF scoring, politics, and God were topics that we discussed. But he’d never go so far as to sacrifice the relationship to be “right.”
He had charisma. He was his father’s son… but he didn’t use it to manipulate.
Joey wasn’t perfect, no one is… but he asked for forgiveness when he needed to (a tribute to his up bringing) and one of the most difficult qualities to posses he had the ability to forgive. There was a time in our relationship that I had deeply offended him, and he forgave me. I believe that forgiveness is the most precious of all gifts that one can give. I am blessed that Joey gave that to me.
Bradley
