Christine Schutte
I have so many good memories growing up in Waianae with my Uncle Lenny...I remember tagging along to pick up my Aunty Donna from work, I remember always having to step on his back, I remember watching him race his remote control cars every weekend, I remember watching him fixing up and painting cars in his make shift auto body shop (the garage), I remember the day my baby’s head fell off (cabbage patch doll) he preformed the delicate surgery to make her all better and as good as new, I remember when he used to let me drive his trooper round and round in circles in the parking lot at the Waianae District Park and I remember him buying me my first alcoholic beverage... a wine cooler from 7-11... but, I also remember watching from the sidelines as his once normal life started to spin out of control.... but, I never looked at him or saw him any differently as being my Uncle Lenny.... as I got older and our lives went in different directions ... I seen less and less of him but, whenever I did see him I always made sure to tell him “Hi”, I made sure to always acknowledge him and was never ashamed to introduce him as my Uncle Lenny. Every time I seen him around he always asked how my kids were doing and what I was up to, I remember every Christmas I would buy him his chocolate covered cherries and leave it with grandma Vivian to drop off when she dropped of his other Christmas gifts (not sure how much he liked them but, one year he asked for that and I got it for him every year after that ... lol) ... I remember the last conversation that I had with him ... it was maybe a month ago ... he was staying with grandma Vivian for a few days prior to moving to wahiawa. It was a Friday night and I went to pick up Kawika for the weekend, I would normally stay at the house for a little while and have dinner before driving back home but, Kawika started to have his rolling seizures and I was waiting for his seizure to calm down. Before I knew it, it was a little to late to drive home so, I ended up just sleeping over... I remember Kawika and I getting ready for bed (we were sleeping in the living room) and uncle Lenny slowly walks out and asked me ... if I minded if he slept in the living room with us because, he did not want to sleep alone ... I said sure I don’t mind ... not sure how well your going to sleep between Kawika and my snoring ... and we laughed... the next morning we woke up and I was getting ready to leave but, I was also afraid to leave him by himself because I did not want anything to happen to him and there would be no one home to help him so, I stayed as long as I could and we started talking, he asked how Christopher was doing and how Chanda Lynn was ... he also asked if I saw his kids around and if I knew how they were. Then he looked at me and said Chris... I messed up huh????... all I could do was look at him and smile .... that’s when we had our heart to heart conversation, a conversation that I will always hold near and dear to my heart... I will always remember what was said between us ... I was lucky and blessed to have that moment in time with him .... I will always remember my Uncle Lenny as a kind, caring loving man that always owned up to his faults and short comings and never blamed anyone for the things that had happened in his life. I know he knows that I loved him because, I made sure before I left that day to tell him and I knew that he loved me... He will never be forgottten and will alway live on in my memories. Uncle Lenny ... thank you for all of the wonderful memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life ... until we meet again ... I love you and Rest In Peace!