"Aloha!"



1st Hawaii Trip (Me in pink rose t-shirt)

What a lovely greeting "Aloha!"  Everyone I have known has dreamed of an Hawaiian vacation.  I too imagined, even as a child, of one day going to those islands.  I remember painting what I thought to be a scene on Hawaii with bluest ocean, mounds of sand and swaying palm trees.  As my 5th grade teacher, Miss Gardner, watched over my shoulder I added the finishing touch, pineapples hanging from the palm trees.  I was so pleased with the result until Miss Gardner noted, "Jean, pineapples do not grow in trees. They are small plants that grow in rows in a farmer's field."  Talk about having your bubble burst.  I was terribly disappointed that my painting was all for was naught.  Well, one day I would travel to the islands and find out for myself.


You see, I thought I knew all about pineapples in Hawaii.  I had a pen pal as a child.  She was Japanese and lived in Hawaii with her parents on a Pineapple Plantation.  I don't remember her name, and I don't remember where exactly Mother had found her request for a pen pal, but I do remember that after Pearl Harbor we never again had the opportunity to exchange letters.  I do remember my father saying:  "War is not about people, it's all about governments."  I wondered if the islands would still be there after a war.



Finally, with my bridal boutique business doing so well, and my decision to have travel plans other than fishing and hunting trips, I announced to my friend Judy I was flying to Hawaii.  Judy owned a small beauty shop adjacent to my Claremont boutique.  "I want to go with you.  My mother, who I've not seen for years, remarried the island's war hero and has a large house and would welcome us as guests, I'm sure."  Before we even bought our tickets, two other girlfriends pledged to join us, Dona and Joanie, making a four-some.  We put our heads together, set a date, Judy contacted her mother to say "we're on our way" and we bought our tickets to Hawaii.



Judy's mother met us as we got off the plane. "Aloha!" She was wearing the official island 'mumu' ( an ankle length, colorful cotton dress that hung loose from the shoulders).  We each received the official Hawaiian 'lei' of Plumeria flowers and the air was pungent with lovely perfume wafting on warm breezes.  The sun was shining, the ocean and sky were of a matching blue.  And one could see lush, green for miles.  This was truly the Hawaii I had dreamed of.  Judy's mother had made sure that our week stay on the island would be memorable, everything Hawaiian.  We dined on fresh fruits and 'poi' at every meal.  She took us on side trips all over Oahu and the big island of Hawaii, where we walked close to the volcano.  It was a whirlwind of pleasures that made us feel more like children than young ladies on holiday from full time jobs.  What an introduction to Hawaii.

Me in Hawaii on trip with Tes

Since my first trip, Hawaii has become an often preferred vacation destination.  'JD' never cared to use his vacation time for anything but hunting and fishing and had no desire to travel any further than Colorado or Mexico to enjoy his macho endeavors.  I made sure that first 'Tes' then 'JR' (not the names I gave them at birth, but nicknames they now use) accompanied me on Hawaiian vacations, Tes during her first year of college and JR while still in high school. 

While Tes and I spent most of our leisure lying on the beach at Waikiki, we did take a side trip to the black-sand beach on the big island, where we met some scuba divers and had photos taken with their catch of lobsters and an octopus. We also got a chance to eat lunch in the lodge overlooking the volcano and watched the steam coming out.



 With JR I had to be urged to hike totally around the base of Diamond Head.  We also hiked up to the cliffs where you could become air born by holding onto corners of a bed-sheet during a high wind. We took a bus trip to the pineapple fields, were we each consumed a whole fruit at their roadside stand and had sore mouths for the next 24 hours.  Pineapple is best, you see, consumed in more dignified amounts, and along with other foods as well.  A lesson well learned.  Needless to say, back to California, with much stronger leg muscles.



You might know that when I began my divorce, I left stateside and headed for a 'time out' on the islands.  My boutique was doing well under Tes and my manager's care, so my two week intended sojourn became a couple months or more.  Tes, now in college, and JR in High School, kept up the home front, and I just disappeared into the lush green of the islands.  I stayed for some time on Maui, 'the garden island, with new friends and their Australian 'diving' dogs that were wonderful to watch as they dove to the sandy bottom of  the crystal clear ocean to retrieve the object you had tossed.  My soul was healing in all this beauty.



Back on the mainland, Oahu, I was introduced to Connie who was looking for a room-mate, we bonded right away, I got a job as a buyer at one of the department stores on the island and we began our daily routine:  up at sunrise and out on the lawn at Fort De Russey to exercise with Dr. Paul Bragg and his followers.  He was in his 80's then and still managing an easy 50 push-ups per day, as well as swimming laps. Dr. Bragg is famous for his authored health books about vegetarianism and fasting.  Soon I was on this same healthy regime (except for the push ups) and "feeling younger, and healthier" every day.  Paul Bragg said to me:  "You can't expect someone else to make you happy.  First, you have to be happy, then someone else can add to your happiness."  Very good advise.  And it really works.



When I finally returned back to California, tan, healthy and in very good spirits, the first thing the kids and I did was to throw out all the items in the pantry that had non-healthy ingredients and restock with only healthy items and add yogurt, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies along with vitamins suggested by Dr. Bragg.  We owe our good health to this amazing man who lived to almost 100 and played tennis one more time, with his daughter in Miami, before dropping from a fatal heart attack following their lunch at the country club.  His ashes were spread over the ocean at Waikiki along with Plumeria flowers.

         
Of course, there have been many return visits to Hawaii over the years, the stays only mere days at a time, but always a restorative sojourn.  Remember, as you leave the island toss your 'lei' into the waves and you're assured to return and be greeted with: "Aloha!"