 A very special memorial for one of our favorite people and as you know, we only talk to favorite people. One of our very favorite was Jackie Young, Dr. Jackie Young. She was on the show lots of times and she passed away after a stroke. She was a former legislator. In fact, she was the first woman vice speaker of the House of Representatives. And she was a feminist long before that word was fashionable. She was, I don't even know where to begin. She did so many things. She was head of the Women's Legislative Caucus. She was the first Korean American or American of Korean descent to go to Punahou. And that was a long, long time ago. She graduated from Punahou in 1952. And then she went to the University of Hawaii and she spent, she has all everything that you can imagine that she has done. I am just so proud to call her a friend. She was outspoken on abortion rights. Of course, the state of Hawaii was the first state to pass the law making it legal. She was the champion of equal, okay, oh God, Marsha. She was the champion of marriage equality. She has championed all kinds of civil rights, human rights, everybody that knew Jackie and loved her. So today we are going to play just a little bit of time that we spent with Jackie. And I think that in this case where we're talking about that kind of thing, take us through the steps of cancer and what you've been through. Sure. Well, first of all, I am just in the process of completing my memoirs. And actually it's about this topic. My memoir is about what the gypsy said is the name of it so far. And it's about the gift of aging. Because when we talk about being alive, we talk about aging with every day. And as a result of what I heard way back when I was 15 years old, that I was going to die when I was 25. That has been in my mind that mortality is very fragile. And that there's a possibility that we could die at any moment, any time. Now that gets a little bit morbid and hard to put your hands around. But there is that, not slogan, but I remember reading a book by Alan Lakin about if you had six months to live, what would you do? And that's where my friend John Radcliffe comes in. Because he is suffering from cancer and he is in a terminal stage of it. And many of us don't get that definitive statement, you're going to die in six months. But I have lived since I was 25 years old and I didn't die. I have lived that thought that I may die. And that has actually made me focus more on what it is I want to do when I'm alive. Because I never knew if I would be alive the next year. So my family, if they're watching, are very familiar that I do talk about dying. Unlike many people, I talk about dying because I talk about living. I talk about how I want to live my life. And so yes, as I barreled on in my life, one of my most life-changing moments was I was working for the Marriage Equality Bill back in 1998. We had a constitutional amendment that was going to be very damaging to our constitution. And I was asked by ACLU if I would step in and head a committee to organize to stop this amendment. And so I did. And just around that time I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So I thought to myself, oh, if I were to have breast cancer and die within six months, how would I spend the rest of that time? And I made a decision that I would work on the campaign. But if that was going to be my end of my life, I was going to do that. And since then, I have really stuck my neck out with that motto in my mind that, OK, if I had six months to live, what would I do? And it's just like I really admire John Radcliffe. I've told him, I've written to him, and I said, if I had six months to live, I'd be right beside you there and advocating for this bill that's in the legislature right now. Well, he has been our guest a couple of times. Yeah, he is marvelous. It's just remarkable. I've worked with John and I admire his focus on this because he's giving so much of himself. So yes, I've had cancer. I was head of the American Cancer Society in Hawaii, as you know, for many years. And I have lived and worked in a group of people and families and volunteers who've suffered from their loved ones dying from cancer at a very early age. Some of them born and within a few months dying. Some of them born and within a few years dying. So children, you know, with cancer, adults with cancer. So the issue of dying has been very, not only as part of my life personally, but professionally. That's been something I don't hesitate to talk about. And so, especially for people with cancer, there are so many cures now. I mean, I'm still alive. I had breast cancer in 1998 and here I am. But two years ago, I happened to be in the hospital for some other examination and they unsuspectingly found another cancer on my kidney. And it was just incidentally found as they were doing a scan of my upper chest. They got the top of my kidney and saw there was a cancer the size of 11 on my left kidney. And so, fortunately, because this is not usually detected early, I had that removed. So again, I thought, here's another life-threatening issue. If I had not caught that cancer early, if another five years had gone by, I would be in a terminal illness. I would be experiencing symptoms that would show that I really had a serious cancer issue and it would be terminal. As it is, they removed it and I'm fine. I'm back out, you know, doing my work. So, yes, I've had some experiences. My professional life with the Cancer Society has shown me that life is very fragile and that you need to value it by navigating the journey. I love your title by navigating the journey and by making the most of your life every day. Thank you for giving us that background. Well, as you know, I've had cancer repeatedly. But I was told also that at the time I was born, you know, I was born in 1938. I'm older than you. Everybody said, oh, 45 was it. At the turn of the century, 45, nobody lived past 45. And so I kept thinking, oh, will I get past 45 with this repeated cancer? Yeah. And 45 came and went as we see it. And we still go through the repeated cancers. But never like John. Yeah. Never at that stage where you say that it's terminal. Well, never like John who was speaking out about it. There are many people who go through some terrible cancers and they've been very vocal. Penetbacker is one. Oh, yes. He's a television producer. He has been very forthright in talking about his cancer and how he went and got clinical trials. And as a result, saved himself from the terminal illness that he had. And there are still trials out there that you can participate in. But you're obviously somebody who values your life. And that's what life is about, valuing every day that you have. And that sometimes sounds a little corny, you know, valuing every day. But it's really valuing the time that you have. You know, there's a wonderful saying by Joseph Campbell that people seem to seek the meaning in life. But he believes that life is about the experience of being alive. And the experience of being alive is experience of aging. And that's what my book is about. That I didn't think I was going to age. I didn't think I was going to live much beyond 25. And so every year that went by, wow, I'm still alive. You know, what do I do now? So that really made me focus and decide if I'm going to make myself worthwhile, I'd better get an education. I'd better do this. I'd better do that. And I think you've done the same thing, because I know you're right in the middle of it, Marcia. And I say I'm older than you by four years. Really? And as a result, 1934, as a result, I watched Pearl Harbor being bombed. Yes. And that was one of the life-changing moments in my life. You know, when you have something put on you like that, that World War II, watching Pearl Harbor, I lived up next to the tea house up in Olive Heights. And it was the place where the only spy in Hawaii was. He would frequent the tea house. They didn't know that. But he would frequent the tea house and look through a telescope that was up on the top floor and look at the harbor. I lived right next door to it. So that created a huge effect on my life. My book, My Life Story, is about life-changing moments, about things that made me wake up. Every time I sort of woke up and looked around me and said I'd better do something. I'd better do something. You know, it wasn't like they happen every day or every year, but it happened frequently enough in my life that I am where I am now, where I feel I can look back and say, okay, I think I contributed. You know, I did something with my life. So that to me was important. Well, for me, as our audience knows, everybody that I've had on this show is a dear friend. And I am so grateful. And then that's one of the beauties of living in Hawaii is all the wonderful people that you get to know different ethnic, different religions, different languages. And that just makes life so rewarding in itself, just knowing these people, having a conversation with them. And everybody we've had on the show has been really different, really interesting, and totally willing to navigate the journey. Totally willing to talk about those issues, just like you have about looking at today and how the different cultures handle the end of life. And some do better than others, of course, always. So that's, for me, that's what makes every day special. Well, I'll tell you a funny story. I was raised by my grandparents, and my grandparents also planned for the end of their life. When I was about 15, I went to the mortuary with my grandfather, my brother and I. He went to pick out a casket, and he wanted to pick the casket he wanted. He didn't want it to be too fancy. And he was at that time in his 60s, and he lay down in the casket, tried it out. He was Korean, laid down in the casket, tried it out, and he decided that's the one he wanted. He had his tombstone engraved, except for the date of death. But everything was in there exactly the way he wanted. It was all carved in cement with his picture, and my grandmother's picture, all except the missing date. And when he died, I was in Germany at that time, but unfortunately the community felt that he needed a better casket. And they insisted that he be buried in the mahogany casket, which at that time cost about $5,000. $5,000 in those days, you could buy a car. Yes, you could put a down payment on a house and pretty much own the house. So his wishes were overturned by the people around him who put pressure on my family that he needed this great huge funeral, which he didn't want. He really wanted this modest casket that he tried out, and he really wanted, he had it all planned out. So yes, there are things that you could put down what you want, and then there could be people overturn that. So what I did bring with me is... One of those things that we, and that's part of what we talk about, is having that conversation and putting it in writing. Yes. So that you're so-and-so from California doesn't come in and say, ah, nope. Right. Yes. Well, when my parents died 20 years ago, we were passing a law at that time. I think thanks to Jim Sean, if I remember correctly, where you could have your surrogates say pull the plug, and this is it. So there weren't many papers at that time. There were some papers you could fill out that say this is what you wanted. When I was in the hospital two years ago with my kidney operation, I was given this green, bright green, so you could put it up on your... We can't use... Bright green. No, the green shows up black. The green shows up black. Well, sorry. So we have to turn it out. Yeah. Okay. Well, anyway, it's a bright green document that you can put on your refrigerator that when the emergency people come, they can see it and they can see what your wishes are. So in this little packet I have there my provider orders for life sustaining treatment is POSST. And inside this is the doctor's latest description of my various illnesses that I have, congestive heart failure, cancer, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the other side is emergency contacts. So I have that available in my home and my kids know about it in the event that I have a sudden life threatening illness, which has happened because my brother also all of a sudden had a stroke when he was taking a shower. He was living with me. And after he told me the pills are in the medicine cabinet, the fire came, that was it. He never spoke again. And five days later he was dead. Well, we have to... Jackie talked a lot about her friend and our friend, John Radcliffe. And so we've asked John to join us in our tribute to Jackie. So John is on the phone. John, are you there? Hello. Yes, Marsha. And thank you very much. Hi. Can you hear me all around? If we can hear you. I... Very good. I'm so glad that you allowed me to participate in this tribute that you're making to Jackie. She's a pretty remarkable woman. And somebody in this community is certainly going to miss a very, very brave woman. And as you know, she graduated high school in 1952, which is for Elvis. So, I mean, as a woman coming up, she had every tough thing to throw at her. And she did very well. Luckily also, you know, Jackie doesn't come from poverty. I mean, so she is a lifelong liberal, no question, but she didn't grow up in poverty. She learned about it and she studied it. And she became one of the great champions of people who have left. I mean, she was very much in favor of a system of government that raises all the boats at once. She loved you so much and she admired you as we all do. But as she talks about the end of life and how she admired your stance and how you have given to all of us so much of living with these issues that you have. So can you tell us just a little bit about that? You're living with your ailment because she did. She lived with cancer. She lived with kidney issues. She lived with, yeah, she beat cancer one at a once, I think. And the stroke was, you know, just one of those things that the good lord puts out there, I guess. Because, you know, she was, as I am, she was prepared to go out if she had that kind of an illness. But she had a stroke and that's a whole different thing. So she was not covered by the same laws that I'm covered by. Coping with it is not a problem. And Jackie and I both had this point of view, I think, that, you know, this is a pretty very happy time of life. When you have, when you can look back on it with some feeling that you did as well as you could. And Jackie was one of those people that did as well as she could for other people. And that was, that's her gift to humanity and to the people of Hawaii. I don't know what happened to her memoir. She was writing a book. I don't know if she ever got to finish it or not. She talks about it, but I didn't, I don't know either. I don't know if it ever finished. However, what I do want to tell you is the night before the stroke, she was at the NAACP Dr. Martin Luther King holiday dinner. So that was the night before that kind of person. Yes. And then the next morning, the next morning. So I have to say that I think that she left us on a high note. She had a party that was all about the things that she had lived for with all of the people that she's known and worked with and loved. I think that's as good as we can ask. Yeah, she's pretty special, a pretty special woman. And, you know, women always have a tougher than men at any time. But, you know, when she was growing up and you too were younger than she is, but not much. It's not easy. So anyway, sweetheart, thank you for always being there. Thank you for being my friend. And I love you. I admire you so much for all you do and all you've done for us. And we have to go. We're going to have one more clip of Jackie. And so thank you, darling. I love you. All right. Take care. Goodbye. Aloha. And talk about living. And the wonderful thing about your theme here, navigating the journey, is that there's also a story about snowflakes. You know how there are no two snowflakes alike. And why is that? Because they all navigate the journey in a different way. In the sky, each one of them has a different wind temperature. Temperature, they bump into each other. That changes them. They bond. They don't bond. You know, as they fall, they have a different journey all the way down. They have the same goal, reaching the end. But they have a different journey. And that's the same with all of us. And I think we have to value our journey. You know, that, you know, I have had a wonderful life. And I would like to end it in a wonderful way also. And I've been very clear to my children, I've had a wonderful life. You know, so when it's time for my end, I will be accepting it and welcoming it because I've had a wonderful life. Hello. Oh, we're back. Thank you so much for being with us today. As we pay tribute to our dear friend, a community leader, this starching person you ever want to meet. And I know that the angels in heaven are delighted to have a lot. And we'll see you next time.