Saturday, March 6, 2010

Goodbye for now...


Bethannie "Kaulana" Nothnagle
3/15/78 - 2/22/10


Last week while in Sacramento working with Lincoln and the guys on the next CD, I was crushed to receive a call that a truly amazing friend of mine in Florida was killed in a car accident earlier that day.

I met Kaulana and her husband, Kelly, back in 2005 when I was doing a bass clinic at the church where they were on staff. We hit it off right away, as she was from Hawaii (I spent 5 years of my childhood there) and we spent much time just talking about our favorite Island "grinds" (food) that we both missed now that we lived on the mainland.

Kelly and Kaulana ended up spending a day with me and my family when they came out to Southern California the following year, and it was like spending time with friends we'd known all our lives. My family & I still have fond memories of that day.

The last time I saw her was when she brought a bunch of teens from her church's youth group to Miami when I was playing there with Linc last year. She had such a passion for investing in and encouraging those kids. And she brought me a ziplock bag full of mochi crunch (a popular snack in Hawaii) that she had made...always thinking of others.

She lived her faith. She was absolutely sold out for God. She was crazy in love with Kelly. Together they'd invested their all in the youth at the church, and countless kids were impacted in life-changing ways through their ministry. She was the real deal. And also just an extremely cool, funny and genuinely caring person.

Kaulana, you finished well, my seestah. Thank you for being a light.

Please pray for Kelly, their extended family and friends...