Our friend Kekoa Lee Benjamin passed away yesterday morning. I found out that he was battling stage 4 cancer about a month ago. To my friends that knew him, he remained upbeat and positive during recovery like the Kekoa we knew.
11 years ago Kekoa and I both got into gardening. We wanted to learn how to become more sustainable and self sufficient. Back then, he moved from the city into a jungle shack and was probably the first guy to commute from nalo to town on an electric moped. He was there that day when Paula introduced me to Julia. We immersed ourselves in the plant world and enjoyed all the nature Oahu had to offer.
Kekoa was my friend who taught me to how to really appreciate the multiple layers of beauty in Hawaii.
As a vegan cook, Kekoa’s passion was food. He told me that after recovery he was planning on teaching people how to cook delicious and healthy meals using fresh ingredients and encourage more plant based diets.
I’m sad that we couldn’t show him in person how far we’ve come from pulling weeds in a 12′ x 8′ community garden plot in Manoa.
I planted a crown of thorns today that our friend Paula gave us a while back. Kekoa my braddah, you will be sorely missed. Thank you to the Oahu tribe for taking good care of him.
Originally posted on 2021-03-11, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.