Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — “Time heals all wounds,” or so the saying goes. However, for Rev. Fetuao Mua, September 29th remains a day of infamy. Each year, as the date approaches, it resurrects the profound pain he felt on that tragic day in 2009, when his mother lost her life in the devastating tsunami.

This year was no exception.

“Time isn’t enough to heal all wounds because every year on the anniversary of the tragedy, I can’t help but remember the pain of losing her,” Rev. Mua stated. "But I know that God will not forsake us in our darkest hour. You just have to pray in earnest for His peace and grace.

“In Revelation 21:4, it says, ‘God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ You see, the pain of grief is real, but so is the peace that comes from God.”

Rev. Mua lived with his mother, brother, and his brother’s family in Sogi, Leone. At the time, he and his wife, Tumema, were both employed by the Department of Health — she as a Registered Nurse and he as an Environmental Health Officer.

To be closer to their workplace, they decided to relocate to Fagaalu, further inland from LBJ Hospital. Meanwhile, his mother stayed in Leone with his younger brother, his brother’s wife, and their children. Despite the move, Rev. Mua and Tumema visited his mother almost every day and spent most weekends in Leone.

“The last time I saw her was the night before the tsunami,” he recalled. “As we were leaving, my second eldest, who was her favorite grandchild, called out, ‘Tofa Mama.’ We then left for Fagaalu, not knowing it would be the last time we would see her and feel her love, warmth, and quiet strength.”

In an exclusive interview with Samoa News, he recounted the events of that tragic day 14 years ago.

“I remember it all so vividly like it was yesterday,” Rev. Mua said. "My wife and I were on our way to take our children to school that morning at Matafao Elementary. We were in front of the Amy’s bakery in Fagaalu when the tsunami hit, and traffic came to a standstill. We turned around and headed back past the hospital to higher ground further inland.

“When we received news that Leone village was badly hit and some people had perished, my heart raced. I remembered that my mother had been attending her mat weaving sessions sponsored by the Territorial Administration on Aging (TAOA) at their building near the sea in Leone. She usually left home early in the morning.”

They then went to LBJ Hospital, where the bodies of the victims had been taken. His wife, Tumema, a Registered Nurse, managed to get inside the morgue where all the bodies recovered that day had been transferred.

Tragically, she found her mother-in-law’s ravaged body among them.

“I was devastated,” Rev. Mua recalled. “My secure world was suddenly flooded with despair, and I poured my heart out to God that day. Why? Why my mother, Lord? She was a quiet, unassuming, and gentle old lady.

“She was a beloved and cherished individual to so many, making her absence profoundly felt. For our family, her loss left us disoriented and emotionally devastated, as she had been the heart of our world for so long.”

He reminisced about their life together and how she had always been there for everyone, especially his children.

“Everything we did as a family revolved around her, and we were looking forward to many years of lovingly caring for her,” he said. “She lived for her grandchildren and would use her monthly ASNAP food stamps to buy them treats.”

In the village women's council meetings, she would sit quietly but when given the chance to express her opinion on any issue under discussion, she was not afraid to say with conviction what she thought was the right thing to do.

Her quiet strength and humble demeanor endeared her to many. On several occasions, the senior members of the council would personally pick her up from her home to attend their meeting after which they would go for lunch at some restaurant.

Rev. Mua recalled that she would always ask him for some money to pay for her meals. However, she would invariably return the money, explaining that the ‘Faletua’ who had picked her up had refused her offer to pay and had covered the cost.

But Lagi, as she was affectionately called by her family and known by everyone she encountered, was actually her second name, according to her firstborn, Rev. Fetuao Mua.

Her father, Lavea Uele Tala'ileva of Safotu, Savaii, migrated to the Territory with his wife, Faafiu Sala of Leauva’a, Upolu, in the 1940s. He was related to the Tuitele family of Leone, where the couple eventually settled.

Their daughter was born on the night of December 31, 1945, and was named Fa’aumatausaga, which translates to “End-of-the-year.”

Lavea, whose father was a Catholic Catechist in Leauva’a, where his wife was from, was a musician and the choirmaster for the Leone Catholic parish. He occasionally assisted the Leone CCCAS choir as well.

Shortly after Fa’auma was born, Lavea’s services as a choirmaster were requested by a church in Manu’a, prompting him to leave for Manu’a that same year.

As time passed and it became clear that he would not return, Fa’afiu moved back to her village of Leauva’a with her daughter Fa’auma. There, Fa’auma was baptized by her paternal grandfather, Rev. Efaraimo Tala'ileva, and her mother’s family renamed her Aigafa’alagilagi, or Lagi for short.

In her teenage years, Lagi stayed with her uncle, a pastor in Letui village, Savaii. It was there that she met her future husband, So’oalo Simeona Mua, a teacher at the village primary school.

The couple had eight children, six boys and two girls, and they lived at So'oalo's village of Samauga in Savaii.

In 1988, the eldest son, Fetuao Mua, decided to travel to American Samoa to locate his mother’s birth records. After numerous visits to the Office of Vital Statistics and other relevant government offices, he accomplished this task.

Eventually, he managed to get her papers in order. With the passage of the One Parent legislation by the Fono around that time, he was able to move to the Territory with his family, his younger brother, and their mother in 2003. By then, his father had passed away.

Re-establishing her family ties with her father’s relatives, the Tuitele family in Leone, she settled there with her children, returning to the place where she was born.

Unfortunately, their time together was tragically cut short six years later by the events of September 29, 2009.

“It was a very painful experience for our family, and when it comes around every year, I feel the pain,” said Fetuao. “But I have come to realize that God has ultimate authority over everything. His peace is there for us in times like these, and we just have to reach out to Him. He will comfort our hurt and sorrow with the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In 2015, Fetuao felt the calling to serve God, prompting him to resign from his job and enter the Kanana Fou Theological Seminary, where he graduated as an ordained minister in 2018.

He assisted Rev. Iese Fa’avaoga at the CCCAS Leone parish until earlier this year, when he and his wife were invited by the CCCAS Ofu, Manu’a, to be their minister.

“I thank God for the opportunity He has given me to serve Him in Manu’a,” he acknowledged. "I also thank Him for comforting me and my family when we lost our mother. His grace, comfort, and unconditional love helped us heal and overcome our grief.

“Now, we thank God for the time we spent with our beloved mother. We find comfort in knowing that she is now in God’s hands and that we will meet her again when it is our time to leave this life. On the 15th anniversary of the tragedy, I extend my deepest condolences to everyone who lost loved ones in the tsunami. May you find peace in the Lord.”