More high school

I was surfing the net last night and stumbled upon a name of a friend from high school. I had driven past Oceanside High School several times in the past year and was observing new things happen there. I didn't know exactly what was happening but I knew it was big. In high school, at Oceanside High, the Pirates Green and White was everything.

My brother was not a football sized guy. He eventually got to be really tall but not during the early high school years. Instead he became the team "manager". Over the course of a couple of years he kept stats and water and towels for the guys that loved him for his spirit. He became very good friends with the guy pictured above. We actually went to church with him and got be great friends over the course of the years. Wally Molifua was a football great. But more than that Wally had a heart as big as Samoa. He never had an enemy, unless you could count the team members at Carlsbad High. And that was only during the game. After that Wally was everyone's friend.

My brother and Wally spent hours together on church activities, seminary and luaus. At church dances after all the food had been consumed, the only thing left usually was Jello. Wally got us all saying "there's always room for Jello!" It became a catch phrase in our group of friends.

Back to the construction at Oceanside High. The Pirate logo was brilliant. Then I got a look at the gymnasium the last time I was down there. Wally Molifua Gymnasium. They had named the gym in honor of Wally. Wow! That is super. Everyone knew what a great he was. Wally had graduated the year I was a freshman. He went on to play at MiraCosts college and then on to BYU. At BYU he and his wife lived downstairs from us. They had a HUGE! dog. I couldn't believe my eyes the first time I saw him come up to the apartment. I blinked twice and then realized it was my long lost friend from high school. It was like he never had been away. He was loving and kind and treated as well then as when I was in high school. He asked about my bro and we caught up on stories of family and friends.

So why the gymnasium? Well once Wally finished college he went back to his old high school and began teaching and coaching there. He was the first Samoan to be hired as a teacher by OHS. Wally gave back to his community as a teacher and mentor for so many years. In 2004 he was diagnosed with Cancer of the stomach. He began getting treatemtns and was actually responding well. In April of 2005 however, Wally suffered a massive heart attack that took his life. He was only 53. In May of 2006 Lavell Edwards, BYU Football coach was on hand at the dedication of the gym in Wally's honor. He extolled the story of Wally's life. The service rendered and the friends made. Wally was a keeper.

He was met on the other side by his mom and dad and a sister. I can bet that my brother was there for the "Jello"! It's good to know that he is reunited with good friends and family.