Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: Hawaii

  • When are You Going to Start Living?

    This morning, I came across a post written by Bronnie Ware who worked in palliative care for many years.  It is a post that I think everyone should read:

    Top Five Regrets of the Dying

    To sum it up, the top five regrets are:

    • I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
    • I wish I didn’t work so hard
    • I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings
    • I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
    • I wish that I had let myself be happier

    In the last weeks before my dad passed away, we reflected back a bit on his life.  One of the big highlights was a trip we took to Hawaii.  That trip was a result of a casual conversation in the spring of 2008.  “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” I asked him.  He had always wanted to visit Pearl Harbor.

    “So what’s stopping you?” I asked.

    Oh, someday I’ll go, he said.  Dad served two years in World War II and he wanted to see the place that altered the course of his life as a teen.  We continued to talk about our “someday” dreams.  Then I stopped and looked at him.  “This ‘someday’ you’re talking about,  really, what’s stopping you?” I wanted to know.  “Why don’t you plan a trip? You’re not getting any younger and someday you might not be able to move around,” I joked.

    And then I got serious. “And this ‘someday’ might not happen if you wait around for it too long.”

    “Ok, fine, you plan it, then!” he smiled.  The next thing he knew, I booked airline tickets to Hawaii and my sister arranged for a hotel.  A few weeks later, we were on a plane to Hawaii. We spent the first two days at Pearl Harbor.  Dad was filled with war stories and he really opened up.  My mom, my sister and I– we soaked it all in.  We knew how important this trip was to him. We went to the Dole Plantation where we feasted on pineapple ice cream, rode the train and walked in a glorious garden with amazing flowers.  We took a boat ride on the other side of Oahu, where we saw a whale.  We took a sunset cruise on a cloudy night, but for a few glorious moments, the clouds parted and we captured the most amazing sunset.

    And days before he fell into a coma from the cancer, we talked about that trip to Hawaii.  The memories were sweet ones. “Thank God we did that trip,” I said. “I’m glad we didn’t put it off for ‘someday.’”

     

    There’s a little ditty that I came across awhile back and the author is unknown.  The words are profound:

    First, I was dying to finish my high school and start college.
    And then I was dying to finish college and start working.

    Then I was dying to marry and have children.
    And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could go back to work.

    But then I was dying to retire.
    And now I am dying…

    And suddenly I realized…
    I forgot to live.

    So let me ask you, what are you putting off for “someday?”  When are you going to start living?

     

     

     

     

     

  • A Whale of a Time in Oahu

    Yesterday was a day of adventure. Early in the morning, we headed out to Wai’anae Boat Harbor on the north shore of Oahu to board the Hoku Nai’a for a dolphin cruise. We almost missed the boat, as we couldn’t find the entrance to the harbor.

    The boat captain was a gal named Joyce with nine years of experience. She explained that it was difficult finding the dolphins in the last couple of weeks. I wasn’t expecting much but all of a sudden, we saw a whale. We followed the whale for a bit. Marine rules dictate that boats must stay 100 yards away, but we were much closer than that when the whale arched gently out of the water. It was quite a sight to see. I have pictures of the whale blowing water straight up, but I can’t get the pictures to show up properly on here. I’ll see if I can add it when I arrive home.

    My mom became quite seasick and couldn’t enjoy the ride. I felt really bad for her as the crew served some delicious hamburgers right off the grill. After we left, Mom started feeling better on the way back to the hotel so we decided to stop at Pali Lookout. That was well worth the drive as the view was simply stunning.

    Back at the hotel, I headed out to the beach and finally got myself into the water. I rented a surfboard and asked the staff for the “free, five second lesson.” Line yourself up against the wave, paddle to get it going, stand up and ride it out, the guy said. Ah, simple enough.

    So I spent an hour trying to find a decent wave to ride for longer than five seconds. The waves were only a foot or so high and far too gentle to get enough momentum to ride it out. It was still fun to try and I definitely want to come back and try it again someday. I think the hubby and kids would love surfing as well.

    That night, we decided to try the buffet at our hotel, the Waikiki Marriott. It was a meal that was well worth it. For twenty dollars, you get an incredible buffet of prime rib, roasted turkey, pork loin, Thai seafood, tofu with watercress and veal ragout. There were many more dishes and side dishes to choose from. The desserts were out of this world, especially the creme brulee which is one of my favorites. My compliments go out to the chefs at the Marriott.

    Tomorrow, we head home in the afternoon. I’m not ready to leave but I sure miss the hubby and kids. And the dog, too!

  • Pearl Harbor Revisited and a Sunset Cruise

    We headed back over to Pearl Harbor yesterday to tour the U.S.S Bowfin submarine and the U.S.S. Missouri battleship. Once we were on board the Bowfin, we met an intepreter, Vanetta, who was the staff person explaining the operations compartment in the submarine. Vanetta moved to Hawaii from Ohio to go to school out here. It was nice to be able to chat with her and ask questions. We obtained scripts for all of the audio tours so we had access to the tour information, but nothing beats chatting directly with the staff.

    Two of the videos at Pearl Harbor were not closed captioned. The video in the Pearl Harbor museum supposedly had captions but the captioning wasn’t working. The video on the Missouri was not captioned at all. We did view the Pearl Harbor movie with rear window captioning– a system that I’m not thrilled with at all. I really wish there was an option to turn on open captions when needed.

    Later that night, we headed over to the harbor to board the Star of Honolulu for a sunset cruise. We pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we weren’t going to see a sunset. It was cloudy and gray when we left. The food was delicious and the entertainment was fantastic. There’s something about Hawaiian guys moving their hands and hips–makes a girl want to move out here. The staff signed “America the Beautiful” at the end with a combination of ASL and gestures. It really moved me.

    For five awesome minutes, the sun broke through the clouds and we were able to view the sunset:

  • Visiting Pearl Harbor–Dad Fulfills a Dream

    Ok, pinch me. Here I am in Oahu with my parents and my sister. Yesterday, we headed out to Pearl Harbor and spent the entire day there. We aren’t finished– we’re heading back out there to see the U.S.S. Missouri and Bowfin.

    This trip came about quite suddenly and unexpectedly. A few weeks ago, I was up in Michigan, sitting across from Dad and asking him, “If you could go anywhere, where would you want to go?”

    He had always wanted to take a trip out to Pearl Harbor to see the place that lead him to spend three years overseas in World War II. Dad fought in Guam, Guadacanal, Okinawa, and stayed after the war for the Occupation of China. When I was growing up, Dad didn’t talk much about the war. It was a time that was better left to the dark depths of memory. The older I became, the more I wanted to know about his part in history. So little bit by little bit, he shared some stories.

    There were a lot of dark stories, but there were some lighthearted ones as well, such as an amusing moment when he snuck off to grab an ice cream bar only to be called back to attention by the sergeant– with the ice cream melting away in his pocket.

    In the fall of 2007, Dad was reunited with his Marine buddy, Albert. You can read more about that here: Marine Buddies Reunite.

    So there we sat that spring morning, talking about our “someday” plans. I looked at Dad and said, “This ‘someday’ that you’re talking about, what’s stopping you?”

    Well, the next thing that I knew, we booked airline tickets and a hotel. And that’s how we ended up in Pearl Harbor yesterday, fulfilling a dream.