The Lucky Penny

My life is an amazing book of stories. From my first breath until now my life reads like a novel filled with so many twist and turns. This is one of many of the “true” stories that Ihave experienced. Come with me and enjoy the laughter.

We had just finished celebrating Christmas of 2009. Except this year we decided to wait until January 2, 2010, which was the date our family would all be together. Keala and I had shopped for the grandchildren and she wrapped all the gifts as only a grandmother could. Our grandson, Kiaha, opened his gifts and learned that we bought them from one of his favorite Christian store “C28.” It stands for “Colossians 2:8.” Keala and I soon learned that the shirt and sweater were too small. So we decided on Sunday after church we would go and make the exchange.

The church service started on time at 9:00am and concluded at 10:15am. Soon after we left the church and made our way to the Cheese Cake Factory restaurant in Riverside. I pulled into the parking lot and quickly located a space. Keala and Kawai exited the car and headed for the restaurant with Kiaha and me close behind.

We entered and a friendly hostess soon escorted us to our table. We each were handed a menu as we sat down. Before long the server was back and took our orders. 

Granddaughter, Kawai, kept us entertained with her sharp wit and never ending questions. Relief finally arrived with our food.

Lunch was great and it wasn’t long before our plates were cleaned. After lunch we made the short walk to C28 which was in the same Mall as the Cheese Factory. Keala and Kawai took the lead and chatted and laughed all the way to the store.  It wasn’t long before we arrived at our destination and I found somewhere to park myself while the rest of them went in to shop.

A short time later Keala and Kawai came to where I was sitting. Keala decided to cruise to Nordstrom and Kawai decided to play with the T.V. monitor located outside the store.

The monitor is use to advertise the local stores in the Mall and the area. I could tell Kawai was bored by the number of times she kept changing the channels. The boredom soon peaked and she decided to turn her attention toward me.

Now my granddaughter is a type of person who thinks “NO” means “try again.” She is like that proverbial gnat that shows up at your Bar-B-Q and bugs you, no pun intended.

Well she says to me “Tutu, do have gum?” I answer “no I don’t.”

Then she asks “Do you have any money?” Again I say “no.”

She then asks me to check my pockets and I tell her I don’t have any money. She persists and by now I’m thinking “Bar-B-Q and gnat.” But she doesn’t give up!

So I tell her “Kawai, I don’t have any money! I only have my lucky penny, grandma has all the money!”

Did I mention that she is persistent?

Well she wants to see for herself. She wants proof! By this time, Keala has returned from Nordstrom and is now witnessing the conversation between Kawai and myself. Kawai jams her hand into my pocket and pulls out my keys and my “lucky penny.” One would think that she is now convinced that I don’t have any money. But nooooooo, she turns to her grandmother and says “Tutu said he doesn’t have any money, just his lucky penny and that you have all the money.”

Keala looks at her with a perplex look on her face and says “Whaaaat?” 

Again Kawai says “Tutu said he doesn’t have any money, just his lucky penny and that you have all the money.”

Now Keala is laughing and I’m smiling because the attention is now directed toward her.A few minutes later Kiaha joins us as he is done shopping. We start walking down the Mall to another store and along the way Kawai turns her focus back to me.

Did I mention that she is persistent?

Once again she jams her hands into my pocket only this time she finds my cell phone. Then she asks to look at my wallet. So to humor her, but mostly because I want to know where this is going, I pull my wallet and let her look at it. 

Then I say “I told you I don’t have any money! I only have my luck penny, grandma has all the money.”

Did I mention that all of this started because she wanted gum?

Well, we’d just passed a candy store, so she looked at me and said “Use your credit card!”

Did I mention that she was persistent?

By Carl Namahoe

wc…820  January 2010