Leaving Paradise

I was born and raised in a small rainy town on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  It's a beautiful, friendly place full of the Aloha Spirit and many familiar faces.  As a kid I always dreamed about leaving.  That's right... I wanted to leave "Paradise."  You see, I never really appreciated Hilo for what it was, or Hawaii in general for that matter.  I was lucky enough to have a Mom that loved travel and we would visit the mainland every couple of years.  Seeing the world beyond my island chain made me long for the things that Hawaii couldn't offer me.

I always thought that as soon as I graduated from high school I would move away and never look back.  I applied to colleges and universities thousands of miles from home (and one "safe" school that was just a back up, since it was still in Hawaii, but on a different island), but in the end only moved a few islands away.  Although I was disappointed, living on Oahu gave me the whole college experience without having to leave Hawaii.  I was close enough to home to be able to go back, but far enough away to live my own life.  I graduated after 4 years and decided to stay on Oahu.

A year later I fell in love with a Sailor.  A few months into our relationship he told me he was being stationed on the mainland and asked if I wanted to go with him.  My dream had always been to move far away but all of a sudden the thought of moving was terrifying.  I loved living on Oahu.  I had built my own "grown up" life there for almost 6 years.  I never really had any plans of leaving.  (Actually my "future" plans back in my early twenties only revolved around what party to go to next)

But he asked and I immediately said yes.  I was in love, my heart made the decision in a heart beat.  On May 2, 2006 I said goodbye to Hawaii and ventured out into the unknown.  We moved to Washington where we had no friends or family and began our life together.  The beginning was hard.  I was two months pregnant with my son and I missed my friends and my family far more than I ever could have imagined I would.  I looked back and remembered the thought of "moving away and never looking back" and cried.  That couldn't be farther from the truth.

Plus the culture shock of living in Hawaii for the first twenty something years of my life to living in Washington was extreme.  I had never experienced seasons, never lived so far away from my family.  There were days when I just cried, when all I wanted to do was go back home.  My Mom's frequent visits to see me made things easier and eventually we began building a life here.  We had Ayden, opened up Dermawerx (our tattoo shop) and I landed my dream job at MAC.  Wes and I started referring to Washington as the "land of opportunity."

Living thousands of miles away from home really put things into perspective for me.  It took all this distance for me to really appreciate Hilo.  My appreciation for my roots, for Hawaii and my family has never been greater.  I spent eighteen years trying to get far away from there only to grow up and try to go back as often as possible.  I am thankful for having grown up in such a beautiful place and for having the opportunity to venture beyond.  It sounds so cliche, but it's true.... "You can take the girl from the island, but not the island from the girl.  'Cause the island stays in your heart and I'll NEVER forget where I'm from."