If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

Do you believe in coincidences? I certainly don't. Especially since I made a home for myself on the Big Island.

I was 19 years old when I learned my first hula. It was after a pleasant discovery of Radio Hula � a boutique in the SoHo district of New York specializing in Hawaiiana.

It was true oasis in a concrete jungle that is far from Hawai'i in physical distance and lifestyle. This shop, hidden in a space that was somewhere between the ground level and basement had all sorts of collectibles, clothes and tangible memories of the Aloha State. While purchasing an ipu, the proprietress � a local girl originally from Maui � informed me of a free hula class coming up. I signed up right away.

Flash forward a few years. After some life-changing events, I decided that I would move to Hawai'i, to discover and re-connect with the roots that seemed so distant and mysterious to me since childhood. I originally settled with relatives on O'ahu, and then after another set of events decided to return to college on the Big Island. Not long afterward, a good friend of mine invited me to his h�lau. And it was there that I learned a kahiko hula, celebrating the milestone of childbirth.

My sister gave birth three weeks after I learned that dance.

Maybe it is the serenity and casual lifestyle of the Big Island. Maybe it's a conscious decision on my part. But for what it's worth, ever since I settled here, every idea, every dream I ever had, has come alive.

And why not? This island is filled with life. Life in the buildings of downtown Hilo and Kainaliu � if those buildings could talk, what kind of tales would they share? There is life in the lush foliage that grows along the H�m�kua Coast, life in the animals on the ranches in Kohala and Mauna Kea, a life of learning at UH-Hilo, a life producing the world-famous Kona coffee, and new life for the land with every inch of lava coming from K�lauea.

I fell in love with the Big Island my first visit here. And there are admittedly times when I get homesick, but then I remember that I live on one of the most remarkable islands in the world.

Where else can I play in the snow and swim in warm waters all in the same day? Where else can I say "aloha" to a stranger and find out within moments that I am related to this person? It's certainly no coincidence to me that I'm here, after all � I said it years ago when I learned my first hula.

"I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawai'i "

My first hula was to a song singing praises � and of beloved memories � to the island that I now reside on. Coincidence? I think not.