August 21, 2009, marks the 50th anniversary of the entry of the 50th state into the United States of America. All the states have their stories, but as a string of islands in the vast Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from any other land mass, Hawai'i has a story that is unique in many ways. Consider, for example, that Hawai'i has two official languages, English and Hawaiian. In this article Hawaiian words are spelled following the accepted method of including the "okina" (a backwards apostrophe indicating a glottal stop) and the "kahako" (a macron over the vowel indicating that it is lengthened). Perhaps more importantly, one calls Hawai'i the "Aloha State" for good reason. Although the word "aloha" is used to say "hello" as well as "good-bye," its basic meaning is "love, affection, kindness"--something people in Hawai'i earnestly try to show to each other and extend to Hawai'i's many visitors.