5 THINGS THAT MADE ME SMILE

#1: MY MOM- I paid my mom's fare to come visit us and spend time w/ us for Christmas. She got in yesterday. I'm so glad she's here. My kids came home from school and she hid behind the door to surprise them. They were so excited.  My kids love having her around and I'm already dreading her leaving us!

#2:  SPENDING TIME WITH MY BRO'S FAMILY- My brother came over last night to see my mom. It was cute having the whole family under one roof. Well, not really the whole family but you know with only my younger bro & I living in Utah and all.  My oldest son (our jokester) says "Well we're just having a lil' family reunion up in here!" hahahahhaha You can tell we don't have family visit often! SMH. lol

#3: COUPONS FOR A FREE 12 PACK OF PEPSI - I wrote a lot of companies asking for help with my friend Mac Manu's funeral expenses. PepsiCo was kind enough to send  coupons to try to help. Can't wait to send them to Tarina (Mac's wife). I'm sure it will help a bit.

#4: TALKING TO MY TWIN: My sister is getting together a flower arrangement to take to Mac's funeral and she's gonna make it into a L & B (for Long Beach). We're trying to figure out costs etc. When we talk on the phone it's always a laughing marathon. I enjoy little moments like that. (:

#5: HAVING A JOB- I had to miss work yesterday to clean up my house and pick up my mom. I was so tired through out the week and of course I wait until the last minute to clean up. SMH. I'm glad I have a job though. Having another income in the house always helps. Although we're still struggling. But, before we would be behind on bills & now we're on top of bills. (mostly) lol Either way we are paying them! I can't complain. Their are others who are less fortunate!

In rememberence of Mac Manu.

12/12/12 was Mac Manu's Candle Light Vigil. My sister was able to attend and said there was tons of people and tow trucks lined up. Mac's mom Rosita and Mac's fiance Tarina were the only one's who spoke. I'm glad it was a nice turn out. Mac will always be remembered. :'(

I have not heard from any companies to help the family with his funeral so I may be stuck with just Quaker being the only one generous enough to send SOMETHING. Grateful for whatever anyone can help with though. Wish I could make his funeral next week but I have my mom visiting and need to work.

Which reminds me. My mom is coming! Holy crap! She's coming 12/18/12 which is next week Tuesday. Time went by so fast. I have a lot on my shopping list I. I guess this weekend is going to be super busy for me. I still haven't figured out what to do while she's out here. I know Wednesday 12/19/12 is my little nephew Jahvis Fa'asou's 1st birthday so we'll go to that. Besides that we only have plans Christmas day which would be Lorianne and Siu's house around 3pm than our Va'aulu togai. Gotta get a move on things!

"Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received."

Just last night my good friend posted a request for help with my childhood friend Mac Manu's  funeral services. I know I can't make the funeral and I really wish I could. The only thing I thought of was to try and help the family. I have been on a mission to contact every company I can think of to ask of any donations. Here's what my request looked like:

I know this a reach and I'm not sure how I can ask of this request. But my childhood friend who was a tow truck driver has passed away on the job by a drunk driver. He left behind a wife and 3 beautiful kids. You may see the story by going to this link: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-signal-hill-405-freeway-crash,0,1930745.story


It has come to my attention that the family is asking for assistance with his funeral services. Food, water etc.  If your company would be so kind to donate anything to a family who will have to endure the holidays without their daddy, brother, husband, cousin and beloved friend anything is appreciated. Thank you for your time. God bless and Happy holidays!

So far I have contacted the following:

KFC, Church's Chicken, Popeyes, El pollo loco, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Langers Juice, Arrowhead Water, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Quaker Oats, Toys R us, Fisher Price, and I posted on all the coupon sites I joined via Facebook. Even posted a charity ad  in KSL.com and Craigslist. If I can think of anything else of course I will try to do so.

I am glad to announce that I have gotten two responses so far. Here's the emails I got and my response:

Marleenna:




Thank you for reaching out to us on behalf of your friend, Faapuna "Mack" Manu and his family. I read the article and felt a rush of sadness for everyone involved. My heartfelt sympathies go out to all of you at this sad time in your lives.



That said, while we're unable to send a monetary donation of any kind, I did send a variety of gifts that I hope will be of help to Tarina and the children. I mailed them to the address you provided, which I'm assuming is yours, and they should arrive in about a week. Thank you for passing them on to Faapuna's family on behalf of the Quaker Oats family.



Thank you for being an amazing friend to this family, Marleenna. We hope the days ahead will bring them some peace and comfort, and we wish you and yours a Happy Holiday season.



Margie

Quaker Consumer Relations

A Division of PepsiCo

Ref# 028018329A




MY REPLY:

I f it wasn’t weird, I would have sent you a picture of myself. Because I look totally grateful. Well maybe not this very moment because I am crying but I can't tell you how much I am thankful. If you can pass along this message as I will surely rave about this please let all those involved in your company know how much this means to me and the entire family. Please have a blessed holiday. From The Manu Family,  extended family and friends we say THANK YOU!

Hi Marleenna,

Thank you for contacting Frito-Lay. We are pleased to know that our company and snacks are of interest.



As you might expect, Frito-Lay receives a tremendous amount of product donation and sponsorship inquiries for many worthwhile causes. Although we would like to meet these requests, it is simply impossible for us to honor each one. We sincerely regret that we are unable to participate.



Thanks again for your interest in Frito-Lay.



Best regards,



James

Frito-Lay Consumer Relations

012246456A


My intentions is to help the family in any way I can. I understand my request was a lot to ask for so I expect to receive some emails like Frito-Lay to be sent. I received a call from someone that seen my ad and wanted to see if I was interested in a profitable fundraiser. I would need to see if anyone has time as it is 12/21/12. I also got another email from Subway just now to fill out a donation request form on line. I thought that was cool. Unfortunately the funeral is 12/21/12 and the form states it has to be within 30 days to request for a donation. Not sure if I should still ask as a funeral will never have that kind of notice. I'll see.

“Tears are words that need to be written”

When someone you love passes away all you have left is memories. Memories that seem painful to think of because you know you can't make more. Mac Manu is my sisters kids fathers nephew. We pretty much grew up with Mac. When he entered high school I was surprised at how grown he had become. I took him under my wing in a sense and me being a senior and him a freshman he really liked the idea of hanging out with me. lol He would ask me every break and lunch for something. Whether it be a cookie or a full on lunch. I was always a sucker for him cause besides my sister and cousin he was the only guy I could call family. I always refered to him as my son. I'm still in shock that he's gone! I hate it!

One of the great memories I have is wrestling with him. As small as he was he always insisted on trying to wrestle with me. It seemed to amuse him that he can slam me on the floor and I could take it. Of course I was a tom boy back in the days so it wasn't uncommon to see me wrestling, playing football etc. When I was trying to impress my boyfriend (who is now my husband) back in the days, he thought it would be funny to tackle me. We were all on the beach and I was seriously trying to look cute in my lil' ie lava lava and he tackles me and I face planted the sand. Yeah OUCH! It was so embarrassing and my husband looked at me confused like am I supposed to beat this guy up or help him up? He just tackled my girlfriend! hahahahaha When I bursted out in laughter he knew that we were playing around. I must have got up and gave him the stink eye and he walked away like it never happened. I always laugh about that memory because only Mac could do that to me and would do that!

He was spontaneous. He had so much energy and always a pleasure to be around. He had an infectious smile and the biggest heart. Everyone is hurting because he will be missed. How he passed away was by him trying to live a honest living. He wasn't shot he was ran over. It really blows!  He was a tow truck driver so being in that kind of business to help others was so him. When he went to assist someone with a flat tire a drunk driver swerved and hit Mac head on. He was dead immediately. Lord took him but made sure he went quick and didn't suffer. It's so sad and I hate talking about it now. I can't imagine how his wife, his babies, his parents and siblings are all feeling. But I pray they be strong.

I have always made it a must to say "I love you" to my husband and children. I realize how powerful and important those words are. Life is definitely unpredictable and too short. I don't know where I would be had this tragedy happen to me. I pray for all those that mourn. If there's anything I take from this is "DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!" I am guilty of doing this once or twice before, back when I was young and stupid. I think to myself  I only had a few beers and I should be okay. I will never make excuses for myself again because no life is worth my ignorance. I'll see you in heaven Mac. Save me a spot! I love you! 

Day he left us was 12/9/12. Sing with the angels Mac. “Remembering is easy. It's forgetting that's hard.”