This Journey Joining

The final full day of our aloha get away has arrived.  Before we winged our way here, my cousin called to let mom know that her sister was not doing well, a gentle volley to hush expectations of returning to the same sister she remembered a few years ago.  But something happened. For mom, it seems her visit here has been the best twelve days of her recent life.  I have watched the lighting up of my mom's heart many times, having privilege to join her on several journeys here. Best of all, my auntie was even better than she was last year when Carrie and I visited on our 30th anniversary celebration trip.  She seemed energized with a comfort I have seen many times before both in my mom with auntie and Carrie with her sister, Amy.

This morning, missing my girl at home, I think of our many visits to her sister's home in Michigan. Those trips have striking resemblance to that demonstrated by mom.  When sisters have grown close through the years, there is great comfort and that life blooms whenever they get together.  I have seen my wife, Carrie, become something different when she is with Amy, and mom too.  They talk more.  It is as if an ease, a familiarity is nourished, and it just feels right.

The older I get, the more it seems the Lord is telling me to listen and learn, from others and Him.  It has been hard transition for me, but as I look, listen and occasionally get it right, my eyes and ears get to see and hear much more than ever before.   New clarity rises from this exercise in listening and observing.  

While initially this trip was about getting mom to her sister, it has also been about getting my brother and me together as well.  This morning we will go on a final snorkeling venture soon, he rising earlier than usual.  Yesterday's reef exploration and fish watching occurred at the infamous Hanauma Bay, being off season and in the afternoon, it was the least populated I have ever experienced, both with fish and humans.  However earlier that morning, as I drove by, the parking lot was full...something that will occur next year should we visit in summer, only all day long.

Today's journey will take us to another spot which may prove better next summer.  Also, when waves are smaller in the summer, other venues will open up on the north shore as well, but either way, all will be overflowing with visitors then.  It has been fun to catch up with my brother and listen to a few conversations with our host, his friend Allen, whose home we stay in Kaneohe.  It has also been fun to watch my brother catch up with cousins, auntie and uncle having not been here for 12 years.  

It is our hope that we can bring all of his family, including his son's family from Israel here to the islands June next year for a bit of a family reunion, should that occur, and I hope it does, he will have a chance to more comfortably take the family lead showing them the island he remembers and recently experienced.  We forget much. This journey, joining sisters and brothers together has has been sweet on so many levels; the depths of which I will ponder on the long transport home and as we prepare for the visit back.  There is nothing as wonderful as journeys joining our family together.  

It seems right, the passing of the importance of family on to our family, our kids having been given the same gift from our parents.  I sit here overflowing with thanksgiving, remembering, or trying to remember all that my dad posited into me as he showed us the island where he grew, and having taken great courage to leave.  This journey just another joining the life of his, and we get to share it with ours and our family.  Hopefully, our kids and grand kids will have the blessing of coming to the land of aloha many times, speaking of, and remembering the lives here, each becoming a part of them.  I am glad Carrie and I make journeys that join family in celebration.  May this be the legacy we leave for generations.