15 years ago TODAY...

You know I have to thank KITV4 news in Hawaii. They diligently contacted me to schedule a "where are they now" segment for the local Hawaii news..and honestly at the time when I agreed to do it, I really and truly didn't know that May 16th was the actual day I won Miss Universe in 1997. And then I thought, well isn't that strange that I wouldn't remember the actual date my entire life changed? But then I realized well technically it REALLY changed on February 5th 1997 in a city called Shreveport Louisiana. That was when I won Miss USA and well as they say the rest is just 15 years of history ago.

I don't know why I have never marked the anniversary before. I went to my YAHOO calendar to see what I was doing this time last year, turns out nothing out of the ordinary...so why is it that all of a sudden I feel so inclined to pause? Maybe because I am getting older, or that I am a mom now and well milestones seem way more important than before I had a child...I am not sure.

All I DO know is I am GRATEFUL. Grateful for the memory, Grateful for the experience, and ULTIMATELY GRATEFUL to be able to REPRESENT HAWAII NEI...with all the grace, humility, and aloha this Pearl City Tita can muster.

And now...I must make the beds and wash the dishes.

Mahalo for taking the trip down memory lane with me.

malama pono.

Brook