Dear Frances

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa I returned from my speaking engagements on the East Coast and found these insightful letters and emails waiting for me. Dear Frances, Your poem, “Tick Tock,” in the October issue, hit a nerve. When my father was in the nursing home, I asked him if my aunt and uncle....

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa Dear Frances, I have a question. Things are going as well as can be expected with my dad. We have great little conversations and time together, and tasks are slowly being taken care of with the recognition that things are in an almost constant state of change. There is....

Omoiyari . . . Think of others first and good karma will return to you. — Frances H. Kakugawa Dear Frances, I’m taking care of my mother, who has Alzheimer’s. My sister and brother live...

Frances H. Kakugawa Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Omoiyari . . . Think of others first and good karma will return to you. — Frances H. Kakugawa Marguerite Higgins saved me from many a bored hour in class during...

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa Dear Linda, You have over-thanked me with this poem. Thank you for all the “ifs” that we caregivers live with day after day. When they are so eloquently presented, they turn our hour-by-hour life as caregivers into poetry. Thank you for taking us inward into our own. Frances Readers....

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa Happy New Year, readers! I’d like to begin the new year by thanking editor Karleen Chinen and The Hawai‘i Herald for bringing us together through this “Dear Frances” column. I am humbled, not only by my “Boss Lady’s” confidence in me, but in your positive responses. Continue to send....

DEAR FRANCES By Frances H. Kakugawa Omoiyari . . . Think of others first and good karma will return to you. — Frances H. Kakugawa These poems were shared at our recent poetry writing support group for caregivers. Our discussions follow each caregiver’s poetry. SADNESS I am sad because my sister-in-law is terminally ill I....

Frances Kakugawa Hawai‘i Herald Columnist I am writing this column before I leave for Hawai‘i to give several talks on caregiving and to introduce my new book on Kapoho. To be honest, I’m feeling a bit burnt out after spending much of my last 20 years doing talks on the road. As fate would have....