Rothany Hin, one of the people behind a lantern lighting event got his going before letting it fly away. Nearly 400 of the aerial lights were sent skyward by people there to remember someone they have lost.
Every year for the last three Rothany Hin and his partner Rathanah Ly have done something extraordinary. They have purchased chinese lanterns and, joined by friends and others lit their waxy fuel and sent them skyward along the beach on Harbor Ave. SW. to honor and remember loved ones who have passed away.
"It started when my niece, who was 18, passed away after a car accident," said Hin, when my brother and his wife lit one for her birthday to remember her. Her name was Rothmannie Hin.
Then it seemed to them that others might want to do the same thing and they began the tradition. "We started off with ten of them, " he said, "Now everyone comes here to do it for different reasons but my majn reason is remembrance."
Hin sent up the event on Facebook and told people about it in person all spring and gave credit to his friend Thuy Huinh who was there at the beginning and his girlfriend Desiree Schafer who did a lot of work to make it happen.
This year they bought 400 lanterns and asked for donations to cover the cost. They ended up fully funded.
Tiki torches were lit and the lanterns handed out. A persistent wind made getting all of them airborne difficult but many took off. All of them were bio degradable.
Still this was an event without a permit and a fire hazard does exist so the police showed up to inquire after they got calls. No one was arrested.
Everyone it seemed had someone special in mind as they lit their lanterns and often wistfully said, "goodbye" as the lanterns and their memories lifted into the heavens.
