Aloha New Generation Members:

Hi there.

I wish I could be there to attend the reunion.  It would be great to say hello and sing some songs and talk about old times and new times.  I sent in some recent photos to see what would happen, and it looks like Mr. M was able to send them around.  It has been great to see old photos at the web site, and to read all the contributions posted.  Perhaps a quick note will have to do for me.

I left the New Generation when I moved to England to attend school '71-'72.  After I returned I kept my nose in books and in medical school at UCLA.  After medical school, I left for Hawaii to do a residency and fellowship in pediatrics and neonatology.  I had a private practice in neonatology for three years, then joined Kaiser as a neonatologist where I have remained since '83.  I take care of sick infants, many of these are small premature infants.  Mostly they have problems with eating and/or breathing.  Most go home with a fairly optimistic future, it is a pretty happy kind of job, all things considered.

At the time I joined Kaiser, I was trying to work less so that I could enjoy time with my family.  I got married and lived on the beach in a house I rented on the windward shore of O'ahu.  We had two children and moved to a house on the edge of a golf course.

Kirk was born in '87.  He weighed eleven pounds, seven ounces.  A blonde.  I bought a guitar and learned to play again.  I thought that I could sing and play and put him to sleep and teach him songs.  He was a tough audience for a long time.  Kirk is still big.  Now eleven, he is five foot four and 135 pounds.  He is gentle, likes to play computer games, Magic cards and read science fiction.  He attends Iolani, a private school with a strong academic program.  He has a great sense of humor.  He has very little interest in music.  He refused to play the ukulele required this past year in school.  The photos of Kirk were taken recently, one at a party where he
was painting his sister's face,  the other with me at the beach where he is covered with sand after riding waves on a boogie board and getting buried in the sand.  He is a great kid.

Kyla was born in '91.  She has more of my features, the red hair and complexion, but an average size.  She is an average size with an above average amount of activity.  She loves the beach and dress up and dolls and enjoys music.  She started second grade at another private school in Honolulu, is good in mathematics and likes just about everything and everybody.  She is very social and likes to take charge.  She seems to enjoy learning songs at school and performs at home without waiting for a request.  The pictures of Kyla with her painted face tell a story of her personality. She, too, is a pretty terrific kid.

I have not mentioned my now former wife.  Perhaps the least said the better.  After a long legal ordeal, the divorce was decreed earlier this year.  The process is difficult.

Many of the songs we sang together rattled around in my brain for years.  They still do, from time to time.  I hope this letter finds you well and in good spirits.  I feel like this note is a program closing with "May the good Lord bless and keep you, whether near or far away..."

Wishing you all the best.

Kenneth Herrmann