Malo Famili

Greetings to you all, and I hope you are all doing great wherever you are.

Been a while since I wrote any update here from our northern corner. But a lot has happened. Bainimarama was here in Canada for the first time last August, and Sepa and I got to meet him and his wife. The other Matahauan who makes a home here, Mele Panisi, celebrated her 65th birthday last August. But the latest was a new elected Prime Minister for Canada who sworn-in this morning. He is a son of a former famous Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau. The new Prime MInister, Justin, is about my age, of the Liberal Party, taking over after a 10-year run by the Conservatives. (In USA, it's Democrats vs the Republicans.) If there is anything positive about the Conservatives' loss in this year's election, it is the opportunity for its Party to find a new leader.

Anyway, some of you know also of how active I've been on Facebook recently, which is great not just with relatives but also with friends as well. But we're doing fine. Jay with her clinic, mine at work, heading into our last month of this Fall semester, and then there is Sepa at grade 2 this 15/16 school year with his new school. It was unfortunate for him that he had to change school last September due to a sudden relocation of his old school. Fortunately, his transition has been nothing but great. He's happy and enjoying the new environment, new staff, and of course new classmates. He's also very busy with his music and sporting activities.

As posted earlier, it has been a wonderful year for us, with last summer's visit by our very own Ikale Tahi for the Pacific Nations Cup that was hosted here in Canada. We got to see our Ikale Tahi playing twice here in Vancouver, first against Canada during the pool rounds, and then again back here when they beat Japan for 3rd-place in the tournament. The highlight of course was the opportunity for us to meet and hung out with two of our Matahauans in the squad, Veainu's grandson, Telusa, and Fanguna's grandson, Fetu'u Vainikolo. Both of course starred for the Ikale Tahi, and again with another Matahauan, Sione Kalamafoni, in the recent Rugby World Cup. Of course most, if not all, of us got to enjoy the tournament, and a huge CONGRATULATIONS therefore to all you Kiwis, and all you All Blacks fans, for a fully deserved win.

Now that we have calmed down from that fever, and all the candies of the past weekend's Halloween treats, let me announce here first that Sepa and I have just purchased our air-tickets for the Fatai-Ekuasi Family Re-Union next year. While we understand that we can't read how the stars will align for the future, the fares for us are a little too expensive that we simply can't afford to wait until next year. Jay however will have to wait to see how her clinic will work out for her if she can join us. But Sepa and I are fortunate through our yearly schedule that July and August are part of our summer-break months that we only need the OK of our other 'third' to go ahead with our bookings. If however something happens before that....well, we can only say that we tried. We did however get a confirmation from the local organisers that the dates have been set for July 5-9, 2016. In the mean time, we'll try to stay healthy and pray that everything will plan out the way we wish for all of us (how many we can) to meet once again at home in Tonga.

'Ofa lahi atu, and may you all be blessed the rest of the year.

Sitani (with Jay and Sepa Jr.)