Hawaii Here We Come.....

"So what do you want to do when we're there?"

"I dunno...sit on the beach...roll around in the sand....eat sushi?"

"Don't you want to show me around your old stomping grounds?"

Sigghhhhh....

Up until my freakishly tall husband asked about my old stomping grounds, I'd only been ready-ing myself for a week of absolute chaos..going with a huge handful of close friends- well, I expected nothing less. I only thought of the typical things, such as hitting the beach, taking up a surfing lesson, perhaps shopping at the International Market Place for some crazy coconuts, and just "gardening" with an ol buddy who still resides there. But when I pulled out the map of Oahu for my husband, and flipped it to the backside for a close-up of Waikiki, my heart fluttered and skipped a beat....because I remembered so much more.

When I looked down, I noticed a tiny highlighted route, a street named the Ala Wai Blvd. The pink highlight took me to an intersection of the Ala Wai and Walina...WOW. (feel the heart flutter?) That's where Chief Sherpa and I lived for 3 and a half months. X marked the spot for sure. Only a few blocks away from the beach, it was heaven. I suddenly began to smell the carpet in the hallways of the condo, and feel the ocean breeze slamming into my face when I exited the elevator on the top floor to get to the rooftop pool. I remembered the security guard who sat at the door of our complex, and greeted us with "Aloha" every morning when we returned from work. It sounded weird at first...but as the days went by...it started to sound like home! The mailboxes to the right- where I'd run to look for mail...or that extra cash that P would send because she was borrowing the Honda... and boy, do I remember the sunsets.

I looked down at the map again, and noticed that the pink highlight began to track further away from Waikiki. It took me to Diamond Head Avenue, told me to make a left onto 38th avenue, and then a right onto Kilauea Ave. Follow the pink some more, and it would take you to Kahala Mall. Ahhhhh. That's where BE used to live! A nice house on the hill, with whom he shared with MR. Many a night I'd be there, with Chief Sherpa, passed out on the bed that was in the outdoor lanai. Presumably from too much gardening.

The pink was all over the bottom half of Oahu. One of them taking me to Kapio'lani Women's and Children's Hospital, and yet another taking me to the Ala Moana Park and Shopping Center. If living in California changed me as a person, living in Hawaii solidified it. Many have asked if I missed California, and I always used to say, "no- actually I miss Hawaii waaaayyyy more." Now that I'm actually going back for the first time since I had left- with a husband and son in tow, I'm totally shaking with excitement. Chief Sherpa already has warned me, "T- you're going to die." Or was it cry? I don't know. But come what may, I'm going back.

I just hope I have the strength to leave!!!!!