What makes you feel nostalgic?

[ What Makes You Feel Nostalgic? ]

[ It Could Be Hearing A Song ]

[ It Could Be Like A Scent ]

[ You Grew Up Playing Baseball, & The Smell Of Cut Grass In The Spring Reminds You About The Start Of The Baseball Season ]

[ The Smell Of A Perfume Will Remind You Of Someone From Your Past ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

[ What Would Your Room Look Like? ]

[ Your Room Would Have A Comfortable Colored Paint Color ]

[ It Would Have A Nice Comfortable Recliner]

[ You Would Also Have A Comfortable Couch ]

[ An “Alexa” In The Corner Playing Whatever Music You Would Be In The Mood For ]

[ It Could Be Country, Rap, Funk, ’80’s, ’90’s Or Mainstream ]

[ It Would Have A Dog Bed In The Corner With Dog Toys On The Floor ]

[ It Would Have Cupboards On One Wall ]

[ With Snacks For Yourself & Snacks For Your Dog ]

[ You Would Have A Full Refrigerator With Drinks & Snacks ]

[ You Would Have A “Do Not Disturb” Sign On The Door ]

[ The Main Thing You Would Want In This Room Would Be Anything That Would Make For A Calm Atmosphere With Zero Distractions ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

How are you creative?

[ How Are You Creative? ]

[ You Feel That The Only Way That You Are Creative Is Through Your Writing ]

[ You Don’t Paint Or Do Anything On The Creative Scale ]

[ You Are Not Creative With Your Cooking ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

Share what you know about the year you were born.

[ Share What You Know About The Year You Were Born? ]

[ One Of The Main Events That Happened In 1963 Was The November 22nd Assassination Of President John F. Kennedy ]

[ Who Knew That In (19yrs) You Would Become So Fascinated With Everything That Has To Do With The Life & Tragic Death Of JFK. That Year In College You Would Begin Your Book Collection Of Anything That Had Been Written About JFK. Your Collection Is Over (175) Books & Growing! ]

[ Another Event That Occurred Was Martin Luther King Jr’s Iconic “I Have A Dream” Speech, During His March On Washington D.C. ]

[ The Civil Rights Movement Was Also During This Year ]

[ There Was The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, Which Killed (4) Girls, In Birmingham, Alabama ]

[ There Was Also The 1st Female Astronaut, Soviet Cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, In Space ]

[ With Jomo Kenyatta As Prime Minister, Kenya Became An Independent Republic ]

[ JFK Called For Civil Rights Legislation ]

[ Bell System Introduced The 1st Push Button Telephone ]

[ This Saw The Rise Of Bob Dylan As A Significant Voice ]

[ The Beatles Band Rose To Fame In The U.K. ]

[ The U.S., U.K. & The USSR Signed The Partial Test Ban Treaty ]

[ Alot Happened Before & After My Birth In June Of 1963 ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

Are you a good judge of character?

[ Are You A Good Judge Of Character? ]

[ You Used To Think That You Were ]

[ Now … Not So Much ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

When are you most happy?

[ When Are You Most Happy? ]

[ (15yrs) Ago It Probably Would Be A Close Guess Of Being @ The Gym Or Being Home ]

[ Now It Is Being @ Home With My Beautiful Wife ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

What was the last thing you did for play or fun?

[ What Was The Last Thing You Did For Play Or Fun? ]

[ What You Do For Fun Has Evolved Over The Years ]

[ You & Your Wife Was Blessed/Cursed With The Birth Of A Boy In October Of 2002 ]

[ You Say Blessed Because Your Wife Carried Him To Full-Term & He Came Out Healthy ]

[ We Tried The Best We Could As Parents ]

[ We Raised Him In A House, Only Moving Twice. We Have Been Married Not Quite (30yrs) (3•16•1996) & Have Lived In This House Since March Of 2008. In Neighborhoods, Close To Schools, Close To Parks, Non-Violent Area, No Separations Marriage Wise ]

[ You Guess You Say The Negative Things That We Did Was Spoil Him, He Never Wanted For A Thing! ]

[ You Thought You Would Find Joy & Fun Being A Dad ]

[ That Was Not Meant To Be ]

[ He Was Explosive & Negative & Then Very Calm & Sweet ]

[ We Had Him Seeing Therapists & Other Dr.’s ]

[ He Became Very Competitive, Disrespective & Angry With You ]

[ He Disliked Any Attention That Your Wife Gave You & Competed For Her Time. You Are The Husband & The Father, Not The Competition ]

[ The Son Turned Caustic In The House, In The Family & In The Marriage ]

[ 7/14/2021 Is What You Call YOUR Independence Day ]

[ Our Son Moved Out. He Started Growing Up Where He Lives, He Likes His Roommates, He Has Been Employed Since 2021 ]

[ But Now He Has Become Disrespectful Towards Your Wife. THAT Is What You Won’t Be Okay With. When He TRIES To Be Disrespectful To You, You Smile Or Chuckle. The Much Wanted/Hoped For (By You) Father/Son Connection Was Long Gone. But Disrespecting The Parent That Brought Him Into This World Lights Your Fire. Your Wife Has Stated That You Can Have A Very Sharp Tongue & She Is The Only Barrier Between You & Him. You Have Never Been Physical With Him & @ (62yrs) Old, Physical Play With Your Disrespectful Son Is Way Behind You. Now He Does Not Talk With Either Of Us ]

[ The Reason For Writing All Of That Word Vomit Was To Explain How Fun Can Unexpectedly Change ]

[ What Do You Do For Fun Now, Late In Life? ]

[ You Spend As Much Time As You Can With Your Wife ]

[ You Enjoy Being Around Your Dream Team Of Caregivers ]

[ You Love Writing As Long As The Words Keep Flowing ]

[ You Love Playing Word Games That Constantly Challenge Your Mind ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

List your top 5 grocery store items.

[ Another Very Broad Question ]

[ You Can Honestly Say That You Do Not Have An Ounce Of Food Imagination ]

[ That Means When Someone Asks You The Dreaded Question, “What Are You Hungry For?” ]

[ You Have No Idea ]

[ What Helps You Along Is When Your Wife Or Your Caregiver Offers CHOICES! ]

[ This Happens Everyday With Your Caregiver ]

[ This Happens Every Saturday When Your Wife Asks You, “What Do You Want Added To The Grocery List?” ]

[ You Are Not Playing Games, When You Answer, “I Really Don’t Know!” ]

[ The Best Way That You Go Grocery Shopping, Is Actually Going Up & Down The Aisles In The Grocery Store ]

[ So … To Answer The Question. “I Don’t Know” ]

Mahalo,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

[ What Would I Hope People Would Say? ]

[ Well, That Is Kind Of A Broad Question, Really ]

[ I Want Them To Say, “He Always Tried” ]

[ I Tried To Play The Games That Go On In Life ]

[ I Feel That I Am Either Succeeding, Succeeded Or Failed Trying ]

Mahalo nui loa,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

[ The 1st Day … Of Anything ]

[ You Went To Work In A Juvenile Corrections Facility In 1998 ]

[ You Did (2) Full Practicum Terms On This Particular Unit, Previous To Getting Hired There ]

[ Your Very 1st Day There, All Dressed Up In The Uniform, Official Keys & Responsible For The Youth ]

[ So On Your 1st Time Officially On The Unit, You Had To Take The (28) Male Offenders From The Unit To The Gym ]

[ For This Kind Of Line Movement, You Had To Take The Line Movement Underground, Into The Tunnels ]

[ This Was Something New For You, That You Never Knew About. In Your City There Are Tunnels Underground Throughout The Whole Facility ]

[ You Also Found Out That In Your City There Are Tunnels Underground Going From The Maximum Security Prison To The Courthouse Bldg. & The Hospital. The State Mental Hospital Also Had Tunnels Underground All Over Their Property. The Tunnels Were Eventually Sealed Off Because Of Incidents Of Violence ]

[ @ Your Facility You Could Take Your Residents From Their Base Unit, To Any Other Unit Or Building On The Property. So You Are Moving The Residents In A Quiet Line ]

[ Whenever You Get To A Door, Everybody Stops ]

[ Sometimes There Were More Than One Door That Could Go In Different Directions ]

[ So On Your Very First Line Movement, You Reach To Unlock The Door. One Door Went Into The Tunnels, The Other Led To Outside. I Put My Key In The Door & I Heard A Voice In The Line Yell, “That Is The Wrong Door!” ]

[ You Were About To Let A Whole Unit Of Male Offender’s Outside, Instead Of Leading Them Into The Tunnels! ]

[ You Quickly Pulled The Key Out Of That Lock, & Put It Into The Correct Door! ]

[ You Had No Idea Who Politely Corrected You. It Was Nice That Whomever It Was That Did Say Something, Took The Chance Because They Are Supposed To Remain Quiet ]

[ So Here Is Another 1st For The One’s That Like Suspense … ]

[ You Were Pulling An Overtime Shift On The Unit That Housed The Male Violent Offenders ]

[ @ The Time They ALWAYS Traveled In The Underground Tunnels ]

[ So Here You Were Escorting (25) Of The Male Violent Offenders Into The Tunnels ]

[ You Hit A Straightaway Area. Only One Unit Traveled @ A Time ]

[ You Were Not Very Experienced On This Particular Unit ]

[ You Had Very Little Experience In The Tunnels, Like Knowing How Long Particular Ways In There Were To A Locked Door ]

[ So You Were Moving Along & Another 1st Happened … ]

[ The Lights In The Tunnel Turned Off! ]

[ Pitch Black In There. So Dark, You Could Not Even See Your Hand In Front Of Your Face, Even If It Was Touching Your Nose! So, It Was Kind Of Dark ]

[ You Directed The Whole Line To Stand Perfectly Still & On Silence ]

[ Anything Could Have Happened. Those Youth Were Not The Nicest Towards Each Other, Nor Respectful Towards Adults That They Did Not Care About ]

[ Their Crimes Ranged From Simple Assault, To Actual Murder. Those Types Of Youth Were Probably Just Waiting To Get Transferred To Adult Corrections ]

[ You Do Not Know How Long The Lights Were Out. But If Someone Were To Put Themself In Your Position, How Easy Would They Find The Situation? You Were Not Allowed To Carry A Flashlight, Even Though There Could Have Been The Smallest Sliver Of A Chance That A Blackout Could Occur! Well, You Guess That You Were The Lucky Staff To But Heads With That Sliver Of A Chance ]

[ An Assault On You, Or Anybody In The Line, Could Have Happened Without A Single Witness To It, Even Though There Was A Total Of (26) Bodies Standing There ]

[ If You Were To Say That You Had Nerves Of Steel, You Would Be Lying. So You Faked It ]

[ So The Lights Were Out For (5sec) Or (1min), What Would Be The Difference? Thankfully, No Heart Attack Occurred, & You Were Not Assaulted ]

[ Some Of These Youth Were Pretty Hardened & Came From Horrible Families. You Think Even They Were A Little Taken Aback By This Event ]

[ Once The Lights Came Back On You Found That No One Was Assaulted, Nor Was There Any Puddles Of Urine Were Found In Case Someone Wet Themself ]

[ That Was The Best, Most Rewarding, & Most Challenging Career You Ever Had ]

[ Hey … You Could Talk About The 1st, But Not Only Time, That You Had To Go Head-to-Head With A Convicted Murderer Who Had A Double Life Term Hanging Over His Head. He Picked You, Out Of Everyone Out There, To Repeatedly Threaten To Kill. He Had To Be Removed From His Unit Because Of Problematic Behavior, & You Were Radioed To Go To His Unit. Poor Kid. He Underestimated You, & He Was The One That Went To The Ground & Left Handcuffed Behind His Back ]

[ Fun Fun, The Fun Never Stopped During That Career! ]

[ There Were A Whole Handful Of 1st’s That Happened Out There That You Can Never Put Into Print! ]

Mahalo For Your Time,

~ Lopaka DeVoe ~