Hawaii: the people

Hello everyone. I am back home from my trip to Hawaii and have been thinking about how I can describe my great experience.   I have decided that I will divide it up into themes: the people, the place, and the activities. Today’s post will be about the people that made my trip wonderful.  

First, a shout out to my own family. Of course, I have to thank my mom and dad for making it happen and for giving us the chance to go together. It was fun to spend a week with my brother, Ben, and his wife, Becky. It was really the first chance to hang out with them since they got married last year, other than a couple of days around New Years. They are fun and are patient with me. I especially liked swimming in the ocean together.

Second, I was blessed to meet several people connected to the spelling community and really enjoyed spending time with them.  Renee Dieperink is an S2C practitioner whom I first met via email after she had found some of my blog posts and turned them into lessons for other spellers. That was very meaningful to me that she did that.  She happens to live on Oahu and volunteered a whole day of her time to show us some very cool places and teach us a lot about Hawaii. Thank you, Renee!  

The next day, we spent with the Kings. Don, Dane, and Beau took us kayaking on the ocean out to a small island full of nesting birds and a few lounging monk seals. It was really fun. The next day, they hosted a pool party at their house where I got to meet some other super nice people including Julianne King, Janet and Ryan Edghill, Cynthia and Dara Bartlett, and Hadas Gabai (who is almost finished training to become an S2C practitioner.)

Beau, Ryan, and Dara are all spellers like me. I enjoyed just being with others who share a common experience with me. We don’t need speaking conversations to bond with each other.   It was fun to make new friends. Thanks to all of you for sharing your time and your beautiful island with us. 

Finally, I loved learning about the cultures of multiple different island nations during our day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  I love how important family and traditions are to the Polynesian people.  I could feel the warmth of their spirits and am thankful that they shared a little bit of themselves with me. 

The interaction with my family and many new friends was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. 

For other blogs about my trip, read: The State of Aloha