A tribute to Aeau Taulupoo Lafaialii... Ia manuia lou malaga

Today I'd like to pay tribute to Aeau Taulupoo Lafaialii from Falealupo, Savaii whom I met in his beloved village back in 1989 whilst on my Masters fieldtrip to Samoa. I heard yesterday from his grand niece that he had passed away a couple of days ago in Samoa in his 80s. He was the principle storyteller of my second book "Mount Vaea and the tears of Apa'ula" and I was looking forward to seeing if I could visit with him, share the gift of the book with him and for him to meet my children upon our November planned trip. I guess God had another plan.

The last time I saw him saw was in 2012 (but not in person) when my family travelled to Samoa to celebrate my father's birthday and to observe the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Samoa. On the particular day that we were scheduled to go to Mulinuu to view the celebrations, my baby was sick and so I had to stay behind with her whilst my husband and daughters went together. I watched the proceedings on TV and that was when I saw that Aeau was the chosen person to raise the flag in commemorations of the celebrations. We flew out of Samoa a couple of days later.

In 1962, he had been the youngest member of the Constitutional convention whom had drafted the Constitution of Samoa for Independence and in 2012, he was the last surviving member of that committee. Last year, I read he was honoured with a Head of State services medal with many honoured dignitaries as a special dinner at Robert Louis Stevenson Museum grounds. How fitting!

I remember him, in my early 20s when he was probably in his early 60s, as a very humble man who shared these ancient stories of his father's legacy with me. I remember he discussed that his father had been a high court judge and had left many writings for him to reflect on and some of those stories he shared with me. We both, at the time, saw the value in this ancient knowledge, he as the holder of this knowledge and me as a learner and being mindful that many of our older generation were passing on and taking that knowledge with them.

I will never forget you Aeau, the last words you shared with me upon departing from your shores, for now you will be immortalized in the books that I will continue to write that will share our heritage stories with our next generations and those who want to know. Lest we forget - Ia manuia lou malaga...