Greetings,

Laulima: Cooperation, joint action; group of people working together; to work together, cooperate. "True strength can only come when everyone works together to achieve their goal. In the Hawaiian language, the concept is captured in the word "laulima." "

Lau means "many" and lima signifies the number 5, represented by the five fingers of a hand working together. 

Laulima is "many hands working together to accomplish a common goal." 

Eddie and Aileen came by tonight to each give us a helping hand.  There are handy people in the world, and there are those who are less handy. 

Eddie is a supremely handy man. A retired mechanical engineer, he's a natural with tools and "parts." He can read an instruction manual and makes fine sense out of it. A dedicated if-you-want-it-done-right-you-gotta-do-it-yourselfer, he recently remodeled their kitchen. Himself. With shiny black granite countertops and splashes, a new central island, lighting, and flooring,  the makeover is dramatically beautiful.. 

Hard to believe, but he actually did most of the work and installation, himself.  He even built the kitchen's oak cabinetry, including glass cabinet doors with grilles and muntins, as well as installing an extremely custom stove-side spice rack and a potholder drawer. 

We are the less handy.  So when things fall apart or when household bugaboos appear beyond our god-given handiness, DH turned to Eddie.  He can fix just about anything.  

Our most recent problems:  a leaky kitchen faucet (the third in 17 years) and our carpeting, ravaged by our little O, who has bitten out strips of carpeting away from the flooring in the foyer.  Eddie assessed the situation and will get back to us.

There are people who are very handy with money in the world, and there are those who are less handy with money. 

Aileen is a certified financial planner.  She's a soon-to-be retired high school mathematics teacher who is very handy with money and numbers.  She can make sense out of investment manuals.  They make me very sleepy.

We are the less than handy with money.  So when it comes to investment and retirement funds, we turn to Aileen.  

Tonight, we signed a bunch of forms so our employees, who work in the spirit of laulima,  will have a retirement plan as well.  None of us can depend on MediCare alone.  Far too many baby boomers for that to happen:  too small a Social Security pie with too many itty bitty slices. 

Man (or woman) cannot live on bread (crumbs) alone.

Thank goodness for us that Eddie and Aileen have been handily gifted with those that we sorely lack. We hope that they know that we too have our helping hands extended whenever they need our handy gifts.

We are all equally, but differently gifted.Each gift is no more or less valuable than the other.

Laulima.

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