Imagine Keoni Kahoano those first few weeks at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, one day pounding nails into a board for hours on end just to get the technique right, another sweeping inches-thick layers of dust from a warehouse floor because, hey, no one pays anyone to sit around.

Imagine Kahoano collapsing face first into bed those early nights, his body as confounded by eight hours of physical labor as by those new 5 a.m. wake-ups.

"I loved it," says Kahoano, 36. "I still love it. I like being there. I like the people I work with and the people we do our work for. I’m enjoying all of it."

Kahoano’s happiness is rooted in years of sacrificing personal wants for all the right reasons, of taking one after another for the team.

Kahoano learned to work hard from his father, a warehouse supervisor, and mother, an executive assistant. He learned responsibility by watching over his younger sister Mahea every day after school.

A gifted athlete, Kahoano excelled in football, basketball and especially baseball. He’d spend long hours at practice with one eye on the ball and one on little Mahea playing off to the side.

After graduating from Kamehameha Schools in 1994, Kahoano attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his friendship with high school pal Shannon Gabonia grew into love. They welcomed their first child, Keenan, in 1996, and a daughter, Kalia, a year later. Another daughter, Kaylee, was born in 2004.

"When Keenan was born, I knew everything was going to be different," Kahoano said. "Now we had this little person who was totally reliant on us."

Kahoano said he was determined to do whatever it took to make sure his family was safe and happy.

Over the years, that meant cutting back on classes and working multiple jobs so Shannon could complete her degree. It meant coaching his kids’ teams to make sure that lessons of teamwork, determination and sacrifice stayed in balance with fair play, camaraderie and fun. It meant trading in his truck for a $300 beater to help pay the kids’ private school bills.

And it meant working in the state library system for over a decade solely for the financial security it offered.

Still, Kahoano remained hopeful that his time would come. And it did, just this past January, when his application to Pearl Harbor turned into a full-time gig in the plastic fabrication shop.

"I’ve been the guy who if something has to be done, I’ll do it," Kahoano said. "But this is a job that I really wanted. I never had that before. I love the work that I do now and the pay is good, so I know my family is taken care of. It feels like a new day."

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Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.