Image from video courtesy North Hawaii Hospice

(BIVN) – The annual floating lantern ceremony was held Sunday evening at the Fairmont Orchid. It was a chance for participants to honor and remember loved ones who have passed. 

The event was organized by North Hawaii Hospice, and was free and open to all ages. 

“The goal is to honor and remember those who have passed, in a group setting,” said North Hawaiʻi Hospice executive director Faye Mitchell. “We get to share in our grief, but also in our joy about the people that we’ve loved and who are no longer with us.”

“We have traditional hula and taiko drummers, and we have prayers from different faiths in our community,” Mitchell explained. “When people come, they have a lantern paper which they get to decorate and write messages for their loved ones. And then they put that lantern paper onto a base, and at sunset we helped them light a candle in that lantern. And so everyone is at the bay with their lantern and floating it out on the water in the bay, all together, by the time it’s dark. So it’s beautiful.”

Mitchell explained that the mouth of the bay is narrow and blocked by floating noodles, while volunteers on kayaks keep the lanterns from drifting into the ocean. 

“North Hawaii Hospice offers many services to our community that start well before the end of life,” Mitchell said. “We offer support to the families and patients, of course, of those who are  facing a serious illness.”

Image from video courtesy North Hawaii Hospice

“I am an organizer of this event, but I am definitely also a participant,” Mitchell said. “I lost my son Geno in February of this year. He was 24 years old. I have to say, one of the key things I learned from the experience is that grief shouldn’t be kept to myself.”

“We have a group at Hospice that is for anyone who is grieving, and I attended that group right after my son passed,” Mitchell said. “I have to say it’s probably the single most important thing that I did to get through it. There’s something about sharing your grief with others who know what it’s like. So that’s why I share it even now, with everyone watching, because if … you’ve lost someone you’re not alone, and if you share this experience with others you’d be surprised how many people have gone through this. It’s so much better not to be alone in this. I couldn’t have done it by myself.”