Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 7, 1 July 2023 — Straddling Two Worlds [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Straddling Two Worlds

Faces of the Diaspora Series

By Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton Throughout her life, Tammy Goodall has straddled separate worlds: the islands and the eontinent. She's bouneed between the two plaees sinee her birth at Tripler Army Medieal Center, Honolulu's pink hospital on the hill. Goodall spent her ehildhood in Hawai'i and teenage years on the eontinent. Although she returned to Hawai'i as a young adult, Goodall, now 58, is again residing on the continent, making her home in Washington state. "I miss Hawai'i every day to my bones, but she'll always be there, waiting," she said. One of Goodall's earliest memories is of 0'ahu's "humongous" raindrops pounding on the family car as they drove around the island. Goodall's father met her mother - a Maui native - when he was stationed on O'ahu. Together, they created their own military unit of two parents and four children. After Goodall finished sixth grade, the family relocated to California, living in cities like San Diego and Long Beach, before settling in Washington. Onee there, Goodall grappled with racism ffom her peers at school. With the exception of the foreign exchange students, "I didn't make any ffiends because of the color of my skin," she said. She and her siblings would "get into fights all the time at the bus stop." Although her mom's generation was forced to keep olelo Hawai'i and their culture underground, Goodall still picked up scattered words in pidgin and Hawaiian. She remembers visiting uncles and aunties for lu aus where they would play music - including her mom's 'ukulele rendition of The Stars and Stripes Forever. In her early 20s, Goodall returned to the islands as "this young pup ffom the mainland" after marrying a loeal guy. Although the union eventually dissolved, her decades-long love affair with Hawai'i blossomed. "It was a change," she said. "Living there, and just diving headfirst into the culture." For some 30 years, she filled her time on O'ahu and Kaua'i with hula, paddling, snorkeling and learning the ancient martial art of lua. Goodall picked up pidgin, read Ka Wai Ola and watched the Merrie Monarch Festival on television. She described that time as "just evolving." At one point, she lived off of the grid with a short list of essentials: slippers, shorts, a tank top, a towel, a bathing suit and her work clothes. Goodall's curiosity extended to her career as she learned different trades. Her resume includes

positions at a foreign currency exchange company and a title company. She also worked for a judge as a legal secretary within the Hawai'i State court system. Goodall later switched to the medical field. "I wanted to go into a field that actually helped people," she said. On Kaua'i, when Hawaiians ffom Ni'ihau sought care at the elinie where she was employed, she enjoyed talking story with them. "I'll always remember the interactions I had with them," Goodall said. In Hawai'i, she interchangeably referred to herself as "hapa" and "ehop suey" - but without facing the same prejudice she encountered on the mainland. Instead, "we celebrated that," Goodall said. Life changes helped make her decision to move back to the continent and reside closer to her parents. "That was tough," she said. "It was like going to another country." It took around two years for her to readjust. Even experiencing the congestion of interstate traffic and clusters of billboards caused a "sensory overload." She's now lived on the continent for almost a decade. The question of whether Goodall will relocate to Hawai'i in the future is an open-ended one. Although she feels the pull, "it's not the same anymore to me," she said. "1hings have changed." For now, Goodall's parents remain her priority. "I want to enjoy every single moment I have with them," she said. But still, when she meets other Hawaiians ffeshly arrived on the continent, she makes sure to take a moment to soak in the mana of the islands clinging to them - even ffom afar. ■ Author's note: Tammy Goodall is the maternal aunt ofKa Wai Ola writerMegan Ulu-Lani Boyanton.

Tammy Goodall ot a photo shoot near Makapu'u, O'ahu, ahoul 20 years ago. - Courtesy Photo