Good memories of my friend Eric Maehara

Stanford Carr, Eric Maehara, Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu, and Rep. Jerry L. Chang. We, together with his children and friends, surprised Eric for his birthday I believe in 2007.

 Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson – “To All the Girls I Loved Before” – (This was one of Eric’s favorite karaoke songs that he loved to sing with his good friend Rep. Jerry L. Chang.  They would always rock the crowd!)

Good Memories:

In the last eight years, I am so fortunate I got to spend time with Eric Maehara.  I would visit his office or he would stop by at mine.  We spent a lot of times at Rep. Jerry L. Chang’s office. 

Every so often, Eric Maehara, Rep. Jerry L. Chang, Stanford Carr, and I would hang out.  Beginning in my late twenties up to present time, Eric, Jerry, and Stanford would always joke around how Eric was the oldest brother; Jerry was the baby brother; Stanford was the baby, baby brother; and I was the baby, baby, baby, brother.  I thought, how do I fit in with these handsome, smart, and distinguished gentlemen.  I had so much to learn, and they were good role models for me.  In recent years, Eric would say to me in response to the others’ statements, “I’m too old to be your brother.  I am more like an uncle.”  We would all laugh.

I really enjoyed singing karaoke with Eric.  Eric and Rep. Jerry L. Chang would always sing the Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson Song, “To All the Girls I loved Before.”  It was funny because the two of them has always had women interested in them in their bachelor life.  If Jerry wasn’t with us, once in awhile, I would have to sing in place of him with Eric.  One night, I sang “Shimauta” by The Boom and he loved it.  He made me sing it everytime, even when I wasn’t in the singing mood.

Eric was very strong like samurai.  He was also so kind and generous.  When people wanted to help him or give him things, he always refused.  Once, Eric, Stacey Hayashi, and I went to the Izuma Taishya Temple to pray for Linda Tengan Kilworth for a successful surgery for her aneurism, as there was a 50/50 chance she could die in the surgery.  Once at a funeral, in front of the picture of a person who passed, he bowed and made a prayer.  When he got cancer, he didn’t want people to worry about him.  One time he was in the hospital, Luella Costales and I visited him and he told us to go back to work and don’t worry about him.  In fact, he wanted to leave and probably go to work despite being told that he had to stay at the hospital.  He even looked at a legal case for our friend Linda while he was in the hospital once.  This year, I tried to take him out to lunch, but last minute he said he had to do some work.  That’s how he was, he put his work for the State of Hawaii at a high level.  More importantly, he placed his family and friends before himself.  Whenever, we parted ways, he would hug me and say, “You know I love you.”  He said that to his friends.  He was so strong like bushido and yet, so caring at the same time.

My friendship with Eric has come full circle as his father Angel Maehara and my grandpa, Maurice Karamatsu were friends, thus, it has been an honor for me.

There are words of support Eric said that I keep close, which gives me so much more energy to blast forward as hard as I can towards my future.