Front row left to right: Greg, Ruth, Cyndi, Meg. Back row left to right: Lily, Margaret, Chih, Alyson, Matt

Thank you, Alyson and Ruth!

On May 4, 2019 we gathered together to thank Alyson and Ruth for their leadership of KatogMatiLing 2014-2019. We paid homage with fragrant leis, special cards and gifts. The venue was the lovely Waioli Kitchen and Bake Shop in Manoa, a historic stone building graced by lush tropical foliage. The owner, who is next door neighbor to Sangha member Margaret, visited our table to share the history of the building (a former orphanage and current neighbor to a halfway house). She shared her mission to reduce recidivism by hiring, training and empowering former inmates with practical life skills. Our meals were prepared and served by ex-inmates from Women's Community Correctional Center and Halawa Correctional Facility, where we teach weekly meditation classes. She thanked us for our service and support, drawing tears. Smiles were drawn as well, as everyone got to pick out a party favor from a bag. It was a stone with “Harmony” written on it, an homage to Rinpoche’s metaphor of our Sangha as a bag filled with stones, each made smooth from the friction of being together over time.