As everyone’s favorite time of year returns, one can’t help but pause and think about everything that comes along with the holiday season. The weather turns cooler, yes, even here, and spirits lighten further as the days count down and the nights lengthen, giving everyone more time to enjoy each other’s company while gathered ’round and celebrating. Families with their own unique traditions are by now well into their preparations, and ready to share them with family, friends and loved ones, here and across the globe. 

In this issue, Sharon Twigg-Smith gives us a look at one of her favorite annual traditions, the adding of a new holiday puzzle to her collection — the incredibly intricate wooden gems from Stave Puzzles in Vermont. Her ever-expanding circle of dear friends has become accustomed to her penchant for puzzles — each one in her growing collection is practically an heirloom piece, and tales have been told of them being broken out each year as new generations and new friends get to discover, collaborate and hunt for just the right piece as the puzzles are solved. Read more in “Pieces of Tradition” on page 82. 

The holidays also prompt us to look back in time as we recall milestone memories and add new moments onto the timelines that are lengthened and passed down to the younger generations. On our cover, we hint at the incredible story of Indru Watumull and how her decades-long devotion to Hawai‘i and its people has touched countless lives across the islands. Hers is definitely a story that bears telling as it continues to be added to as she deftly leads and guides the evolution of the Watumull family legacy that began during her younger days. Writer Karyl Garland chats with this remarkable woman for feature “Full Circle” on page 86.   

If there’s anything that the past few years have taught us, it is that new traditions are always welcome, and old ones are just as much fun when done local-style, where the little things count for so much, and everything is done with hugs, laughs and a whole lot of aloha. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Aloha!
Margie Jacinto, Publisher