The Beginning Part 1 of 2

Forty-eight years. That is how long I have known my husband. We met on a 4-H retreat. I was 14 and he was 17. My brother had already met him and liked him. When we met, I liked him too. He was funny, loved music and had a personality that drew you in.

When I got older, we fell in love and dated for a while. Because we lived almost 2 hours apart, it was hard for me to maintain the relationship with calls and a few visits here and there. We were still young. So, I broke up with him because I wanted someone to date who could be near me. It took him a long time to heal and looking back, it did for me too. I was just in denial. At some point, we started to talk again. It was actually after my marriage to a physically abusive man had ended. I needed my friend. The day after he got married, my letter reached him. He was in the Navy by this time. He would later say that if the letter had reached him one day earlier, he would not have gotten married.He called when he got my letter. He seemed guarded. I knew something was wrong. It was hard for him to know that I was divorced and he had just gotten married the day before. When he told me, I cried. At any rate, we kept in touch after that but not too much. He would sometimes talk about his marital problems and I was the listening ear or sometimes I gave advice when asked. I knew he would give the marriage his all and I felt I had lost him forever because I knew how he felt about the sacred bond. He would later say he stayed longer than he should have.

10 One Dollar Bills

Today I took 10 one dollar bills from my husband's wallet. They had been patiently living there since March. He went into the hospital March 30, 2026 and died April 22, 2026. Today is no special day. It is just the day that I had the strength and courage to take the money out. I am not sure what I will do with it. I don't know if I want to put it back into the wallet or quietly slip it into my own. My thought at this moment is the latter. And from there I will use it to help someone else who may need it. Maybe buy the persons grocery behind me in line. Of course, more will have to be added to the 10 ones. But I know that will be the thing that will bring me joy, knowing I literally used his last to help someone else. Now to go look for an opportunity to make it happen.

Hawaii in Pictures and videos

Here are some of the sights and sounds I enjoyed on my Hawaiian Cruise. Enjoy!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H2oauxWacmF13PdP8 

Hawaiian Cruise Day 8

This was probably one of the more somber days of the cruise. Our tour took us to the Punch Bowl where over 13000 soldiers and sailors who died during world War II are buried. It is an actual extinct volcano called Pouwaina. I was also able to do something that, growing up, I only read about in history books. I got to see the USS Arizona Memorial and see where the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. Did you know the USS Arizona still leaks oil to this day? It is a phenomenon ofter called the "Black Tears of the Arizona". This oil leak is expected to continue for centuries as it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel remain trapped inside the hull. When the ship was sank, it was fully fueled with about 1.5 million gallons. While on the memorial, you can look down and see the ship beneath the water. On one side of the memorial, part of one the smoke stacks sticks out of the water. The USS Arizona was declared a war grave because many of the bodies remain on the ship. They were unrecoverable because of the explosion and fires. While some bodies were vaporized, some were trapped in inaccessible parts of the wreckage and some were too badly damaged to be recovered. So, there are crew members entombed with the ship, which is sobering to realize as you are standing over crew members graves. At the far end of the memorial, there is a wall with all of the names of those who died. There are over one thousand bodies (1,102 according to Wikipedia) who are entombed on the Arizona.With the total number killed being 1,177 soldier and Marines. It is interesting that we were there on the 6th because next day, the 7th, marked 84 years since the attack. The area was getting ready for the commemoration for the next day.

I also learned that soldiers who die can be buried at Pearl Harbor. They can be buried at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific (Punchbowl) and survivors of the USS Arizona attack can have their ashes interred within the ship's wreckage. I don't believe there are any survivors of the attack left. It would also be interesting to find out how many soldiers died later and were buried with their shipmates. While looking at all those names, I thought about the song "war" by Edwin Starr. "War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing. It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker, friends only to the undertaker."

Hawaiian Cruise Day 7

So today is packing day. We have to get off the ship tomorrow at 7:45am for our 6 hour tour. We did go back to the small shopping area up the street on the free shuttle bus. We were able to walk around and get a few more souvenirs before walking back to the bus. We had dinner with the friends and made promises to keep in touch. 

Hawaiian Cruise Day 6

I could not sleep last night. Not sure if it was anticipation for today or what. So I got up early and got ready while hubby was still asleep. I also made sure I rubbed magnesium on my aching legs. I heard it helps with sore muscles, so I might as well try it out. Make sure when you visit you have good walking shoes. I will have to check my average steps, but each day has been between 6,000-11,000 steps. So, if you are not used to walking that much, like me, bring something for sore muscles!

I am sitting in the Hollywood Theatre waiting to board the bus for our 8 hour tour! Yep, 8 hours. They better take me everywhere during these 8 hours! So, as we go, I will photo document the journey.

Living here is expensive. Homes with 2 bedroom and one bath is in the $600k. Renting a one-bedroom studio $2k month. 3 bedrooms homes go for $800k and up.

Gas, regular unleaded $4.97 a gallon.

Macadamian nut trees take 9-12 years to produce nuts.

Just saw some $5.26 for a gallon of gas.

Bus driver Janna.

There is a forbidden island just off the coast. There are 70 people on the island and there are no visitors allowed! There is a weekly barge that supplies basic goods.

We did a lot in the 8 hours on the bus! I will have to go back thru the photos just to tell you everything. We did see a canyon. It was breathtaking. Photos do not do it justice! Before our day was completed, we had seen waterfalls, visited a canyon, been on a boat ride, visited a blow hole, and ate lunch.

When we got back to the ship, we got ready for our mid-week christian meeting. Witnesses from all over the USA and we all were on the same page and had the same information for our meeting. After the meeting, we had dinner together.

Another beautiful day in the books.

Tomorrow we will sleep in and explore the ship after we start packing. We leave this island at 5pm tomorrow headed back to Honolulu. There we will have one more excursion on Saturday before heading home.

Hawaiian Cruise Day 5

Today we are at Kona. Famous for its coffee as well as where the Ironman competition is held. They also have the only seahorse farm in the US. It's 7am here, sunny and bright. The temperature today will be in the low 80's as it has been here every day since arriving here on Saturday. We also met friends from Ottawa, Canada who were not part of our group but found us because of the friends at the cart on Hilo. 

Today we trecked through town like the visitors we were and had an awesome experience. We shopped for souvenirs and had fun with the locals in different shops. 

I had an acai bowl at one of the local shops that was very good. They had 2 ABC stores that were more like variety stores that had a corner with the alcohol in it. The stores had a little of everything. We found some good things to take home for gifts. 

Before dinner, we were in conversation with a sister and more friends came and joined us. We lingered until we had to go to our different dinner reservations. What a wonderful gift our friends are to us. 

Dinner in the main dining room was filled with laughter and true life stories stranger that any fiction from imagination. I was wiping tears from laughing so much! Another sister and I had to agree, as we were finally walking out, that we hadn't laughed that much in a very long time. But, truth be told, she was one of the main ones making us laugh. We had such a fun night that will stay with us for a long time. 

After being at dinner for over 2 hours, it was time to wind down. Tomorrow is a big day. We visit Kauai and have to meet at 8:15am for our excursion. We are nearing the end of our cruise. We will overnight tomorrow and leave Kauai on Friday at 5pm. Then we will be in Oahu on Saturday for our return flight. However, out flight doesn't leave until 6pm, so we will have one last excursion on Saturday before heading home.