Uncles and Aunties: Joanne “Cookie” Fujio’s fight against ALS

Joanne “Cookie” Fujio can’t recall exactly when she and her husband, Gary “Black” Miyashiro, had the conversation that upended their happy life on Kaua‘i — only that it was late fall 2011.

“Black mentioned one day that he was having trouble speaking,” said Fujio, who had retired from the Department of Education the year before. “He said the words were clear in his mind, but he just couldn’t get them out of his mouth.”