Kaimusailing

The obituary of my younger brother was in the Honolulu newspaper and it was sparse. He was a harbor pilot survived by so and so and that was about it. So little for such a large life. He wasn't always a harbor pilot in Hawaii and there is much more about him and as a result of him that wasn't said.
.
He graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy in New York and began work at Exxon as a mate on the tanker ships. He worked his way up to get his own ship and captain it around the world. In Southeast Asia he rescued a vessel of Vietnam refugees, in Alaska he was the first ship to arrive at the site of the Exxon Valdez disaster. They began offloading the crude that was leaking out of the Valdez. In the photo you can see the very large Valdez with my brother's ship alongside.
.
A while after Exxon's oil shipping problems happened, he was offered an early retirement after 17 years with the company, many as captain of his tanker. He decided to relocate to Hawaii to be closer to family and found out there was a chance to become a state certified harbor pilot. This took about two years. He was already an unlimited ship's master, certified to captain any vessel of any size. The harbor pilot's trade is a little more difficult in that these large ships have to negotiate narrow inlets with rough lava rock or coral on either side.
.
Along the way he met Pia his wife and they built a beautiful house on the shores of Kahala, a suburb of Honolulu the other side of Diamond Head from Waikiki. The house was completely custom built by my brother using native koa wood. It took more than 15 years to create a masterpiece of architecture and carpentry. They raised a family and now he had everything he wanted.
.
He was not feeling well and finally had ultrasound that found a malignant tumor on his kidney. It was advanced and he underwent almost a year of excruciating treatments. In the end he was weak but still fighting to beat the cancer. He lapsed into a coma and never really regained conciousness. It was the end and his struggles were over.
.
It's hard to understand how someone who doesn't smoke or drink, lives in a pristine environment, has no history of cancer in his family, and has the means to get any sort of medical treatment could die this way. Some of the newer studies are saying that cancer in 2 out of 3 cases is a random mutation and not due to environment or life style. It's like winning the lottery but in a negative way. The lesson we learn is to be on alert for any symptoms, any changes in your body.
.
My doctor says, “We can't put off the enevitable forever”. In the meantime we can have as much a life as we can.