Yeah, that's just all right.

Um, why don't we get started before we formally call the meeting?

What are people read?

It was green.

Um is excuse today, and we're gonna start with uh as we do from time to time words of wisdom, and for today we're having Kumulina Alapal Jardine, and it looks like some of the members of the halal.

Please come forward.

Hit that mic so it turns green the red light.

Aloha kaka hiaka, good morning, everyone.

You know, um I've learned over years from speaking and doing blessings that don't even prepare a script because the best message comes from the heart.

And so when I was invited to to share some words of wisdom this morning, I've been thinking about what am I gonna talk about?

What am I what do I have to share?

Unless you want to learn how to kaholo, you know.

But you know, the last year has taught me a lot, and I think every day is we're blessed to be alive, we're blessed to live on this island and call this island our home.

Um, and you folks are blessed with a huge kuleana, which is to make decisions for the betterment of our Lahui, our people on this island, and you know, Kauai is special, Ni'ihao is special, and uh we on behalf of the people of our of our uh islands, mahalonui, because I know each and every one of you have have you know it's a big task, it's a big, big task to to do what you do, and so I wanted to talk about a little bit about change.

I truly believe nothing happens by accident.

Each of you, all of us here, we're here for a reason.

We're here because we want to serve our community.

We hear we're here because we want what's best for our people.

And sometimes change is not welcomed, right?

People are afraid of change, and and this uh group of our leaders, I think it's time for change in our community, and we get really scared.

And I share this as a mother of a 16-year-old who does who is in on his way to Georgia right now to play baseball.

And and why am I talking sports?

Is because when I travel to the mainland, they have the most beautiful athletic complexes.

They have all these things that we look at and go, gosh, but what they don't have is they don't have Kauai, they don't have Hawai'i.

And so uh I recently had the blessed opportunity to do the blessing at Waimea High School, and they're getting a huge gym at Waimea High School, and with that, a tree needed to be removed.

And so that change you could see in the faces of some of the people there, they were just afraid of that change.

And so when you go through uh making big decisions, which affects people and their emotions and and connections to certain things on our island or places, um, sometimes it's bitter.

The change is tough because it comes with criticism.

And so I want to share something that King Kamehameha, and some of you may have heard this before, but you know, we love King Kamehameha.

He never conquered our island of Kawaii and I, but we still, you know, Mahalo and Aloha are Ali.

They kind of, if you think about it, paved the way for all of us, yeah.

But there is a saying that he said, he said, Imua enapoki a inui kawaii ava'ava.

Aohehope, e ho i mayay.

It is a well-known battle cry.

Some of you may have heard of this before that Kamehameha called out while at battle on the island of Oahu.

Hundreds and thousands of lives were lost.

But he said it he said this, the phrase drink of the bitter waters, unfortunately talks about how sometimes we gotta drink that bitter water, we gotta take the criticism, but we know that in the end we are making porno decisions for our people.

And I just hope that today I want to start off with a prayer, and then we're we have some avail.

You do not have to partake if you don't want, but if you would like, we will serve you a little bit today.

Um, and I have with me my daughter Breeze, and we know through my health journey, Brees has really stepped up to the plate.

And boy, you know, it's it's being a kumuhula.

You're getting not for the weak.

Not there's bitter, bitter, you gotta get through it.

Turn your thing on, honey.

Yeah, there you go.

But but in the end, when you do things the right way with the greatest of intentions, you forget that avah, you forget the bitterness of the avail.

You just feel the accomplishment and the aloha from everyone else.

Behind me, I have four of my homana, and I asked them to specifically to be here today.

These four attend kamehameha schools, kapalama, and they're home on summer break.

So I wanted them to be here today because this is a melee.

They're gonna share a short melee with you all that they shared at their hoike this year at Kamehameha schools.

Speaking of the Ava, and when you look at the Ava, the plant itself, it's such a simple plant, but with such a great message, right?

Drinking that ava, while it's bitter, I don't care what anybody say, yeah, unless you you flavor it with other stuff.

Uh it's it's it's not the best drink in town, but get through that bitterness, and in the end, aloha prevails.

So I want to start off with prayer to our Heavenly Father.

If we can all bow our heads, dear Lord.

We thank you so much, Lord, for today.

We thank you for another day of life, another day to be here to serve our people, another day to love and and cherish our families, our children, our kupuna.

Lord, we're just so so so grateful for all of the blessings that you bestow upon each and every one of us here in this room and all of your children throughout.

We thank you for the for being able to live in harmony.