Assuming all her buses are running on schedule, it’s usually just before midnight when Miriama Asi returns home to Kalihi from her job at the Subway restaurant in Manoa.
But while Asi’s days are long and her responsibilities at times onerous, you’ll never hear her say she’s tired.
"That’s a word someone else can use," Asi says. "For me, ‘tired’ was what I felt when I was wasting my life away. After all it’s taken to get my life back, I can’t ever say that I’m tired."
Asi was born in California and raised primarily in Missouri. The daughter of an abusive alcoholic, Asi said she began drinking at age 12.
By age 17, Asi had dropped out of school and gotten married for the first time. Her troubles worsened as her drinking escalated out of control.
When her third mariage dissolved (husband No. 3 was later murdered), Asi attempted to rebuild her life in Hawaii, where her mother was living.
"I thought I needed a change of scenery, but I was really just running away from problems that I needed to confront," she says. "I ended up meeting some people and doing things I hadn’t done before."
Asi said she became addicted to drugs, supporting her habit by gambling, stealing and dealing drugs herself.
"I stole from my own family," she says. "I was even homeless for a time."
The turning point came when Asi was featured on a most-wanted segment on one of the evening newscasts.
"People knew me from dealing and gambling," Asi said. "I knew people would be looking for me because there was a $1,000 reward. But this is an island. Where was I going to go? I was so tired of running. I just gave up."
Asi surrendered to police and spent a year in federal prison on the mainland. Upon her return, she completed a drug treatment program and was accepted by the Hawaii Drug Court Program, which provided her with counseling, job training and placement in a halfway house.
Asi got a job at Subway three years ago and with the encouragement of her boss, J.C. Byun, started attending Leeward Community College. She earned a degree this spring and is getting ready to transfer to the University of Hawaii-West Oahu.
She has been clean and sober since February 2010.
Asi spends her free hours exercising and spending time with her cats, Bobo and Koko. She also spends much time with her mother, patiently rebuilding a relationship that was almost lost.
"I’m taking my time through life, and I’m grateful every day that I have my life back," Asi says. "Before, I didn’t feel anything. Now I feel everything and it feels good. I have a good life."
