“Our Primary Colours”

There is a Primary song that sings: “Our Primary colours are one, two, three red, yellow and blue. Each one has a message for you and me. Each is a symbol true! Red is for “Courage” to do what is right, yellow for “Service” from morning till night. Blue is for “Truth” in our thought and our deeds. We will be happy when this is our creed.” With that song in mind, I am going to match a colour with superlatives to describe each member of my family. I hope they inspire some life and colour into your lives. When I was young my parents taught me that RED stood for COURAGE or for someone who is COURAGEOUS, VALIANT, HEROIC, DETERMINED, GALLANT, BRAVE and FEARLESS. These words describe Isaiah perfectly, even though he has Down syndrome; that has not deterred him from qualifying for the NSW state swimming championships 4 years in a row.

The colour YELLOW reminds me of Ariana who amidst all of her disabilities, now with life threatening seizures, she is HAPPY, CHEERFUL, CONTENT, BRIGHT and ENERGETIC, and even though she is autistic and blind, she has a CLARITY, INTENSITY, VITALITY and OOMPH that many of us do not possess. She is our sunshine and light that often illuminates the pathway for our family’s future. PINK is my favourite colour, why? It invokes the characteristics of being BOLD, AMAZING, DARING and WILLING to SUBMIT to the will of the Supreme. This colour also reminds me of my wife Leihana and her TENDERNESS, SENSITIVITY, CARING and her LOVE unfeign. Her favourite colour is BLUE which also describes her personality, whilst in the midst of many different challenges; she gave birth to 2 beautiful angels who are disabled. To us as a family, she is our CONQUEROR, STRONG, DURABLE, RESILIENT, ROBUST, STURDY, SERVES, LOYAL and very SOLID.

The colour GREEN is Fale Junior’s favourite which also describes him perfectly. He is a GOGETTER, RISK-TAKER, CONFIDENT and full of HOPE. He always takes the opportunity to be involved, even if his peers do not. The other superlatives that come to mind are GO, FREEDOM, SUCCESS, PROSPERITY, FRUITFUL and BOUNTIFUL. The colour WHITE really represents my 13 year old daughter Kiana and the standards she holds dear and her character of being WELL-MANNERED, TRANSPARENT, SPARKLING, CLEAN, PURE, INNOCENT, BLAMELESS and GUILTLESS and full of INTEGRITY. The colour PURPLE reminds me of each of the children and I guess many of you and what you may each potentially achieve. It is a colour that is often paired with HONOUR, HERITAGE, PRIDE, IMPORTANCE, SIGNIFICANCE, PROMINENCE, ROYALTY and NOBILITY.

And finally, Viliami, BLACK has often been misrepresented with negative connotations. Not in this case, as the oldest child, he has had many challenges which at times seemed dark or (the stereo type) “black”, yet he remained TRUE, HONEST, AUTHENTIC, POWERFUL and COMMANDING in his FOCUS and FAITHFUL in his COMMITMENT in defending his standards, ideals and very GIFTED, CLEVER and SMART in finding solutions for himself and his younger Down syndrome brother and blind, autistic sister. So, what colour and or colours describes you and each member of your family? What emotions do they represent and inspire in your lives? Are they one of Courage, Honesty, Nobility, Innocence, Happiness, Faith, Strength or CHARITY? They each have a specific meaning and purpose that describe who we each are as human beings and what we all hope to become. Why not put a little colour into your lives; find a colour, match each family member to it, and then use the above superlatives to describe who they are. Each one has a purpose, an importance, significance and a heritage that is from a heavenly heritage, nobility and royalty.

Love, love, love,

Spiritual References: Ezra 3:12, Job 28:27, Psalms 16:11, 30:5, 37:11, Proverbs 23:31, Ezekiel 1:4, 8:2, Isaiah 64:4, 1 Corinthians 2:9-12, Acts 17:29, Romans 8:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Nephi 2:10-13, 25 “Men are that they might have joy” D&C 76:10, 88:20-22, 25-26, Moses 4:28, 5:10, Abraham 3:22, 23-27, Hymn 226 “Improve the Shining Moments”, 227, 228, 229, 230, Children’s Songbook, 228, 258 “Our Primary Colours”