By Lee Cataluna

Dwight Kanae was selling just about everything he owned. He was young and idealistic and was moving to the Mainland to start a new life. To help finance his dream, he was even willing to part with the balalaika.

Kanae's mother bought the 3-string Russian instrument from a man at Thomas Square. She gave it to Kanae along with a series of lessons. His father built a special wooden case to protect the instrument's distinctive triangular body. It was a treasure, especially for a musician.

Kanae took the balalaika along with the rest of his belongings to the Kam Shopping Center swap meet in Kalihi. He sold it to a lady who said she also played music. The woman was taken with the beautifully crafted instrument, but she was even more taken by Kanae's story.

"I remember she promised she'd hold it for me until I came back," Kanae said. "But I wasn't planning on coming back."

He was back home in less than a year.

The woman had given Kanae her name and contact information, but, he says, "Of course, I lost the paper."

That was close to 25 years ago.

Like most professional Hawaiian musicians, Kanae gigs and subs all over the place, playing guitar, 'ukulele and bass. He often plays at the 'Ilikai with Kawika Trask and a rotating lineup of musicians. Over the summer, Aunty May Kamai, a long-time professional musician, started playing with the trio.

About a month ago, Aunty May, who always brings lei for her fellow musicians, came up to Kanae with a lei and a question: "Dwight, do you know how to play the balalaika?"

"My jaw was on the floor," Kanae says. "The balalaika! Are you the lady who bought it from me?"

"Yes," Kamai said, "and I'm the lady who wants to return it to you."

Kamai is in the process of building a new home. She had been going through closets in her house when she came upon the instrument. Over the years, she had periodically taken it out to admire it, clean it and think of its owner, but she had never played it and had never given it away. She had made a promise.

"I brought it out and there was a red tag across the front and it said 'Dwight Kanae,' " Kamai says. "And I'm thinking, 'My goodness, I'm playing music with him this Friday at 'Ilikai!' "

Kanae is now practicing his balalaika and experimenting with some Hawaiian songs. He's most excited to have the special wooden case his father made for him. "That was the thing that really hurt to lose," he says.

Neither Kanae nor Kamai remember exactly how much she paid for the balalaika, but Kanae says, "Whatever it was, I owe her couple hundred times more for bringing it back to me."

"I'm the kind of person who keeps a promise," says Kamai. "That's all you can do in your life, keep your promises."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com