The Island
It's funny really, how you never truly realize how much something matters until it's gone. The happiest moments of my life were on the island, Kaua%u02BBi. The first time I went to Kaua%u02BBi my mom and I spent hours on the beaches while my dad was busy, but we'd collect sea shells from the shore to make necklaces as souvenirs for our family back home. I still have one of the necklaces, it never leaves my neck, except..no, it never leaves my neck. We go every year for as long as I can remember and it's such a warm and happy place.
The sand feels so good between my toes, the sun smiles down at me every morning, and the water crashes against the rocks singing to me as I wake. We always stay at the St.Regis resort in Princeville, it's beautiful there and dad loves the golfing. But while he golfed that gave mom and I time to explore and we'd always go all over. We'd see the Bell Stone, we'd see Allerton and McBryde gardens and she'd always tell me I'm the prettiest flower she had seen all day.
We hiked up the Sleeping Giant, it was so pretty and the view was amazing. Mommy had to stop for awhile, she tripped a little, I never got tired once. She's says I'm a big girl and that all my veggies are making me strong, I told her "mommy you need more veggies" and it made her laugh, I made her laugh. Daddy helped her up the rest of the way.
The sky is so clear, just like the water. I splash my feet in the water, mommy and daddy are talking and hugging. It makes me happy when they're happy, some times though mommy cries but she puts a smile on so fast and tells me "the eyes may rain but all storms clear up eventually". She's so smart.
She took me to Moir Gardens for the first time and it was completely free which was so cool. There was a man talking about the history of the gardens, he said it was by a lady who was married to a man who ran a sugar plantation and how it was one of the world's best cactus and succulent gardens. I always get scared of being pricked by a cactus, they're so weird. Mommy has to sit down again, daddy sits with her while I look at some of the plants. I can hear the ringing again, daddy answers his phone and walks off, which gives me time to talk to mommy. She tells me "you're my garden sweetie, like Mrs.Moir made her garden in to a beautiful thing, you'll grow in to a beautiful woman" and I know one day I'll be just like my mom.
It's cold today, and cloudy. My necklace feels lighter than usual. I can hear my daddy talking about going home soon, I don't want to, I want things to be like this forever. Just me and my mommy forever, in the sun and sand having fun. Grandma called today, she told me she'd be happy when I come back so she can see me again, grandpa sounds worried but he's always so silly. School has started and I'm still here on the island with my mommy, I never want to leave. My necklace feels so light.
Mommy doesn't talk much anymore, she keeps smiling though and I bask in the shine of her smile and the sun above. The sand is warm, not as warm as it was last month though. When I was sleeping last night I heard my daddy cry, he takes his golf too seriously, it's just a game. I mean when I lose in my games I get grumpy but I don't cry, because I'm a big girl. Sometimes daddy comes back and just hugs me so tight, he tells me I have to go home soon, that we all have to go home eventually. But I don't want to, it's warm on the island with mommy.
Today we went to Hanalei. I hold hands with mommy and daddy, it's so warm outside, but the wind is chilly. Did you know Hanalei is the town they used for Lilo & Stitch? My daddy told me so, he always knows this kinda stuff. When we get back to the hotel daddy brings me dinner in bed and sits on the edge with his hand on my shoulder, mommy is quiet, it's cold. Where's my necklace?
I never want to leave the island, it's so much fun. Daddy wants me to go home, he cries again. Mommy is so quiet, I never want to leave her side, her smile and smell. She smells like the ocean around the island, I never want to forget that smell. It's October, it's colder, I don't want to go home or to school but Daddy is crying more. I lay on the beach with mommy, her hand in mine, the sand has no warmth anymore and her either, I know now that I have to go home.
The next morning my daddy brings me breakfast in bed again, like he has for the past three months. His eyes are watery, I hug him and tell him "Daddy, I'm home" and he hugs me to tightly and cries. My mother stands at the doors of the room, the beach behind her, the warmth no longer there. My daddy needed me at home and I had to grow up and become the big girl my mother knew I'd grow in to. My mom, Alexandria Ellen Adair, passed away July 17th of Endometrial Cancer at the age of 33. She was a beautiful and radiant woman whose glow was as warm as the island. I'll always remember when she told me "all storms clear up eventually", because she was wrong, some storms stay with you forever because even on the island it rains sometimes.
