Someday you can call me Tutu....

Yesterday I needed to get out of the house. There was a lot of stress in the air and I had to get away from it. Jenn remembered we had two free movie coupons so off we went. We decided to see "The Descendants". How can 2 hours of looking at George Clooney be a waste of time?? We also passed the refreshment stand without making a purchase.....saved money and calories.

It was as if my Mom had picked the movie out for me. It was filmed in Hawaii. The music was all Hawaiian. The Hawaiians in the movie looked like my mother's relatives. The story was about a family dealing with an impending death and the passing of a wife and a Mom. There were Hawaiian phrases used throughout the movie.....words I had heard Mom use on occasion as she told us about her family.

When George Clooney said to his daughters they had to go tell Tutu what was going to happen......I almost jumped out of my seat. Tutu is Hawaiian for Grandmother.

Years ago Mom and I had gotten into a conversation about what kids call their Grandparents......to Jenn and her cousins my parents were Nannie and Pop. I like that more than the traditional Grandma and Grandpa. I told my Mom I wanted to be called Nonna......which means Grandmother in Italian. She suggested Tutu.....I laughed and said not a chance. When she said it I could only think of the ballerina's costume.

A few years later my sister was becoming a grandmother for the first time. My Mom in conversation told her she had heard the Nonna was Italian for grandmother and she thought that would be nice. When my sister told me what she had decided to have her grandchild call her at Mom's suggestion.....I was pretty pissed off. I had always wanted to be Nonna....

Not that I needed to worry about this right now.....but if you know me well you know I plan way way ahead of time.

I felt like Mom was talking to me all through the movie.....in a scene that really hit me George Clooney says to his cousins that they may all be "haole" (which means Caucasian) but they have Hawaiian blood running through them...like me.

Last night, I added a Hawaiian word and name app to my iPhone. I want to explore that language the way I am trying to learn to speak Italian.

But here is what I decided after seeing the movie......someday when I am a grandmother I will be called Tutu.....in honor of my Mom......I am sure people will wonder what kind of name is that.....but it's OK the person who matters the most will know.

Aloha.......