A friend asked why I love Hawaii as much as I do. There isn’t really an answer I can give him, or anyone. I asked the Wendalls if they could help me put it into words, and all we could come up with is “aloha”. Then we tried to define aloha, and we were stuck again. We stopped only after we started singing.
So what is it about this place? Why does it have such an amazing hold on our hearts?
It isn’t Waikiki, though some of our favorite times have been spent sitting on the beach there, surrounded by a few hundred people as we watched a movie.
It isn’t the Arizona Memorial, though that is a moving and thought provoking place.
It isn’t Haleiwa, the surf capital, though sunsets from those shores are among the best we’ve ever shared.
My love of Hawaii is a combination of the land and the people. It is the sun and the sand and the mountains. It is the daily rainbows and the magnificent sunsets. It is the music and the dance. It is the joy that people are not afraid to let you see. It is the idea that family and connections are what make a person whole.
We moved to Hawaii in the fall of 2001. We loved it immediately, but is did not become “home” until at least a year later. By the time we left in 2005, we knew that we would spend the rest of our lives working our way back to the islands. Part of that was time, and part of that were the friendships we had formed. Part of it was the time we had been able to spend with my brothers, both of whom moved to Hawaii shortly after we did.
Leaving Hawaii was much harder than we thought it could be. I am an emotional person, and had expected a few tears, but I remember crying most of the way to L.A., where we caught our connecting flight to Germany. Being away has been much more like being away from a person than a place.
When we were told that there was a 20-hour layover on our way from Germany to Korea, I burst into tears at the travel agent’s desk. The idea of heading back there next summer has me in tears again. The realization that it will be for years instead of days has my heart soaring, and the thought that I will be HOME is pushing all other thoughts out of my head.
So here we come, Hawaii. Our little family is coming home. Mom, Dad, Local Boy, and three Polynesian Kitties. We are truly the luckiest people in the world, so happy to live Hawaii again!
Wendall has his assignment, but does not yet know what his position will be. What we do know is that we will leave Virginia in June or July and we will be in Hawaii for 3-4 years. And of course we will have room for guests! We look forward to sharing the aloha.
