Lockdown reflections from Maui

Kimmie Ouchi is a family physician in Maui, Chief of the Kaiser Permanente Lahaina Clinic, and Co-Chair of the Hawaii PMG Health and Wellness Committee. She was born and raised in Maui and came to the Mainland to play Division 1 tennis for Santa Clara University. This was followed by medical school at the University of Hawaii. We first met when she was a resident at UC Davis. She was a pleasure to work with and radiated an inner light that brought joy to all those around her. I see her about once a year at wellness conferences and we stay in touch by email and text messaging. Yesterday she sent me this beautiful poem and pictures of her enjoying a patch of sunflowers in Central Maui with her daughter, Nanea. She reminds us that “the sunflowers are still blooming” and adds, “it’s always important to take time to stop and smell the flowers.”