Twenty-five years ago this was me and my college sweetheart--two engineers, two catholics, from the same middle-class background.
For me this was 'escape' from an unhappy home with three girls, a stay-at-home mother and a father who worked two jobs to support us. I was free! We even had a Bentley rented to drive us from the church to the reception. Remember, my parents discouraged me from my dream of being a doctor because A) it is sick to want to work with sick people B) these are the best years of your life and C) we can't afford it.
Fortunately, the honeymoon was on Kauai. As our plane from LAX landed into Honolulu for the connecting flight, my eyes filled with tears as the sheer beauty of Oahu overwhelmed my So-Cal native eyes... We stayed at the honeymoon suite at the Sheraton Coco Palms.
This was by the room. I wondered why there was a beach and no one could swim in it. Strong currents or something? But Kauai and I were a perfect match! The Fern Grotto, the Na Pali Coast, and snorkeling in Poipu.
We came back two years later to see a friend get married. He married a Japanese, but was blotchy. It turned out he was dying of AIDS, and I always wondered if the 'woman' he married, Setsuko, perhaps was a man...
It was that trip where the Spirit of the Islands started to call to me, and the marriage started to crumble. I bought a book by Serge Kahili King on breathing Mana. I saw my first menehunes. And I connected to the sea and the land.
My next trip was almost ten years later--that week off between internship and second year. I took my baby sister, who unknown to me likes to sit by the pool at the hotel the entire trip.
I left her by the pool and discovered this, the place of refuge. There was a cultural fair there. I made a bracelet, a lei for my head, and took my first ride in an Outrigger Canoe. I had 'flashbacks' of a past life for the first time.
I also discovered Pele. I left her an offering, even though I wasn't supposed to. She made me promise to return with my children and bring them to her. I agreed.
My next trip was with husband number two. We stayed at room 605 at the Fairmont Kea Lani, in a room much like this. He told me he wanted a divorce in the restaurant in front of everybody and made me cry. We slept in separate beds.
But in the Outrigger Canoes at the hotel, I saw my first Honu in the water. I jumped in and swam with it.
As a young attending I went to a Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists' Meeting in Honolulu. I stayed at the W hotel right at the foot of Diamond Head. All of my worry about a 'curse' of the islands was not to be true. I ate asian every meal, every day. I rode a catamaran off Waikkiki Beach with a bunch of Japanese tourists and had fun even though we couldn't speak. I danced ballet with the State ballet. But most amazing, one morning I woke up to this question: would you like to have a baby? say yes or no?
'Well, what is for the Highest Good? What does God say?'
'Yes'
'Okay then, I will'.
Two weeks later I got pregnant!
When he was three, we went with the California Society of Anesthesiologists to Kaanapali, Maui.
We went whale watching three times in one week!
When he was five we went to Kona Village.
He 'met' Pele. And we have enjoyed time with friends. For more, see October and November 2012.
This last time has been the best.
Love works in mysterious ways. I never would be alive or 'awake' if I had stayed with ex- number 1, ex-number 2 or even the baby daddy (who never made it to 'ex')!
Mahalo and Aloha. Remember, no matter what, your Purpose and Vibration will get you through to a better place, even if you miss a Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary party and cake.
Namaste,
Reiki Doc
