On most days, I take for granted the people I love and the privileged life I lead as I go through the motions from morning to night. Today is not one of those days. Today I woke up believing that my family and everyone else I love was on the cusp of death. After an inaccurate alert announced an imminent missile threat toward the islands, I truly thought that my nightmare had come true. Kim Jong Un’s constant taunts of nuclear weaponry and Trump’s dumbass challenges have made my home an open target for warfare. People back home have prepared as much as they can for the possibility of a nuclear attack, but there’s only so much we can all do. Hawaiʻi isn’t the mainland- we can’t protect ourselves forever from weapons of mass destruction and we can’t handle the fallout of the attack, should it happen. Thinking about losing my loved ones nearly sent me into a panic attack and I’m lucky my mom is with me to keep me calm. Experiencing those 40 minutes of fear and helplessness reminded me of how truly loving others is all that matters in life. If I can lose everyone I love in a snap, I want to know that I made every moment count and I loved them as passionately and actively as I could. Life is too short to focus on petty or unimportant problems. Showing the people I love how much I care about them and appreciate them is what matters, especially if the world should end. For right now, I’m thankful for another day with my family and friends and I can only hope for an endless supply of precious moments with all of them.
