This Mother’s Day was a melancholy one for me as it was the first spent without my mother.

I found a plate that he made as a Mother’s Day gift for Cristina back in 1982.

Nearly three decades later, he could hardly remember a better gift.

As a distraction from the day’s significance, Steven traveled to Oahu, Hawaii and visited the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple in Kaneohe. In a beautifully serene setting, there stands the Bon-sho (Sacred Peace Bell). This 6,000-pound brass bell was cast in Osaka, Japan, and is a replica of the 900-year-old bell that hangs in that city’s Uji Byodo-In temple.

The bell is customarily rung using a soft wooden log (the shu-moku). The pleasing deep resonant tone of the bell signals tranquility and peace for a loved one, and purification of the mind.