06-05-2025
Caring for mom, playing big role in Shinnyo Lantern Floating Ceremony
HONOLULU (KHON2) – The Shinnyo Lantern Floating Ceremony on Oahu has become an impactful time for the community to come together to grieve and to remember loved ones on Memorial Day.
State Kupuna Caucus proposes caregiver tax credit, more
As you can imagine, the set up is a mammoth undertaking.
Kristin Jackson, production supervisor for the ceremony, currently splits her time between two states to care for her mother all the way in North Carolina.
'So I'm just constantly in this state of flux, and I never know from one day to the next, when am I going back and when am I going to be able to come here?' said Jackson. 'She's in very good health, but, you know, she's older and she's never been alone before. So I go back and forth to North Carolina for a month at least, usually about six weeks every two months.'
Helping kupuna who are afraid, unable to speak for themselves
Jackson does this on top of the months of planning needed for the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Ceremony.
'It's a really unbelievably large production. But the reason that I continue to go back is just the impact that it has on the community.'
Jackson says it's not just the ceremony itself, but also everything leading up to it.'There's so many things behind the scenes that people don't ever see. We have a group of gentlemen that we hire from Habilitat,' said Jackson, 'they are the happiest and most grateful and just so cheerful, and the hardest working crew of guys I've ever seen and their mission is just so incredible. So it's working with groups like that that really make the process so much more rewarding.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
