The buildup to Christmas was a roller-coaster for the Dadez family. 

Still, Randy and Marilou Dadez count themselves lucky. 

“We have a lot of blessings,” Marilou says on a recent morning over a spicy bowl of homemade soup in the living room of the family’s FEMA-funded condo. 

“We have a place to stay and all of us are together, unlike other families that have someone missing from the fire,” she says. “We’re closer as a family and the kids understand more of the meaning of family. They know now that anything can be taken away from you.”

In mid-November, Marilou started receiving trigger point injections to help with her daily migraine headaches. The shots worked. She experienced a two-week reprieve from the pain and it felt like a dream.

Relief of another kind arrived a few days before Thanksgiving when the Red Cross granted the family an extension on their FEMA-funded room at the Honua Kai Resort, allowing them to stay in place through the holidays. The family had originally been told they’d have to move again three days before Thanksgiving. 

Then, in mid-December, a few of the Red Cross volunteers stationed in the resort lobby informed Randy of a possible change: In a few days on Dec. 15, he and his family might need to relocate to another resort — their fourth move since their home burned down in August.

Moving again would have most likely meant losing regular use of a kitchen.

Most of the federally funded emergency shelters for Maui fire victims are hotel rooms without microwaves and stoves and there are strict rules against the use of countertop cooking appliances. Marilou was anxious about losing the ability to prepare Filipino meals for her family. Randy was wary of overspending on takeout. 

It took the family three nerve-wracking days to get confirmation from the Honua Kai Resort management company that the Red Cross was mistaken. The family could remain in their three-bedroom condo with its luxurious kitchen and wrap-around lanai until Jan. 5. 

Where they’ll go when it’s time to move again is unclear. Rianna, 21, the eldest of the four Dadez children, worries they’ll have to move to a hotel in South Maui, an hour from Lahaina. If that happens, she wonders how she’ll manage to get to her job at Starbucks in West Maui.

One day in mid-December, Samara, a seventh grader at Lahaina Intermediate School, got in a fight with a female classmate. According to Randy, Samara received a warning via text message that a girl she used to consider a friend was going to try to fight her. Instead of telling an adult or trying to run away, Samara fought back. The altercation left her with three large lumps on her forehead. The school handed both students a one-day suspension.

“With everything we’re dealing with,” Randy says, “it’s like, what else is next?”

The day after her suspension, Samara, who is 13, joined her 9-year-old brother Kobe in a $100 shopping spree at Target as part of a charity event for children affected by the Lahaina fire. Samara shopped for lip gloss and eye shadow. Kobe picked out Pokemon toys. The gifts went under a plastic, 3-foot-tall Christmas tree that the family received as a donation. 

There were also presents under the tree from two Maui women who volunteered to shop for items on Samara and Kobe’s wish lists through an adopt-a-keiki program organized on Facebook. Kobe asked for basketball shoes, a monster truck and spinning tops. Samara asked for makeup and a slime kit.

Randy and Marilou usually buy Samara and Kobe two or three gifts each for Christmas. But this year they each found about 15 donated gifts under the tree. Kobe opened a present a day. By Dec. 20, he’d unwrapped five gifts with at least 10 more to go until Christmas.

“For Kobe, it’s the best Christmas ever,” Marilou says.

Days before Christmas, Rianna and her boyfriend got in a car wreck. They walked away rattled but mostly uninjured. The rear door of the family’s 2001 Honda Accord was rendered inoperable. 

As he deals with the devastation of the fire, the added stress of Rianna’s car crash and Samara’s school suspension weighs on Randy, bringing him to tears at times. 

“For Christmas, all I want is for everyone to be grateful that we made it, that we’re together, and that we’re going to keep going,” Randy says.

He and Rianna have to work on Christmas. So the family plans to celebrate the holiday a day early with a home-cooked meal around their tiny Christmas tree in the luxury condo they wish they’d never have to leave.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.