the boat when it sank...but had made it out safely. Rather than only save himself, he went back into the ship...saving 15 other men...and never made it back out.

After his death, Florence...who was left a widow with two young sons, spent many years traveling up and down the Eastern seaboard of the US working in hotels as a housekeeper to support her little family. I honestly don't know when she went back to Hawaii, but in her later life, once her sons were grown, she moved back...to be close to the man she loved and had lost long ago. Florence hadn't lived an easy life...but I'd have never known. She was the kind of person who rarely had a bad thing to say...about anything. Whenever she'd call thehouse to talk to my mom, I'd always be greeted with a sunny little "Oh hi honey, this is just old Florence". She'd ask about how school was going...and urge me to do well and tell me that I'd "better be a good girl and finish college." If I'd heard from my mom that she was unwell, like the year she broke her hip, I'd ask her how she was feeling...and she'd brush it off, telling me "oh, honey, I'll be fine and back on my feet really soon."...and she was too. There was no such thing as keeping this little lady down. She walked all over Waikiki...strolling along with her walker...riding the city bus to get where she wanted to go, even after the hip break. I