I will always be happy that Lee and I spent the money to go on R&R to Hawaii. After all we never really had a "proper" honeymoon. We didn't have much time, and certainly no money, and we were 18 years old. What did we know about how wonderful a honeymoon could be? At this time we had been married for 11 years and understood the ups and downs of marriage a whole lot better, and appreciated each other a whole lot more. Our understanding of life seemed to be much more clear after we had experienced a few more years of life and loss, we realized how "fragile" life is. The day before I left NewYork for Hawaii I visited Lee's sister in the hospital. She had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and had undergone a radical mastectomy. A couple years later the cancer had spread and it became imperative for her to undergo another mastectomy. A few years later she subsequently succumbed to cancer. By that time she had gone through surgery for removal of her pituitary gland and surgery to repair a broken hip, she was 49 years old.
Now we return to our "Adventure in Hawaii." It seemed like we never left our hotel room for about 24 hrs. After all we had a lot of time to make up for, in reality, of course, it wasn't really that long. Our hotel was called "The Pagoda Hotel" with a floating restaurant. There was a pond which was filled with hundreds of Koi, a beautiful colorful fish from Japan. They were fascinating to us as we had never experienced anything such as this beautiful display. At feeding time the restaurant help would ring a hand held bell and the Koi would all gather for food, it was impressive!
The afternoon of our first day in Hawaii we rented a car, nothing very fancy. A lot of couples rented dune buggies and all sorts of unique transportation. We were just so happy to be together we didn't care what kind of car we drove. The Island of Oahu is approximately 45 miles around it, so we set out on our adventure. There were beautiful pineapple fields which belong to Dole. I had never eaten FRESH pineapple and it is so absolutely delicious and juicy, we really indulged ourselves. When it was time to return to the states I actually brought 4 pineapples home to the kids.
The weather was absolutely fantastic, sunny with some light trade winds which are normal for February. Being of very fair complexion and never having visited a place where the sun was so intensive I didn't realize that I was doing some serious damage to my skin. I actually sustained 3rd degree burns on my nose and right arm. When I returned to NY I looked like "Rudolph" with a very edematous arm. Luckily, I was able to take care of it without getting infection. Nowadays, so much more is known about skin damage that I would have used a high SPF to protect myself adequately.
That first night in Hawaii we attended a show. In retrospect it wasn't such a big deal and most people nowadays would not even recognize the featured performer's name, but it was marvelous to us. The man was a star on Hawaii 50 called "ZULU." This was really out of character for us to go to a club, but this was a different time and place. There were service men and woman jamming the restaurants and clubs, doing exactly what we were doing. Lee and I sat down at a table filled with other couples, and had a wonderful time. The irony of that evening is that we never exchanged names with a single soul, and yet we had so much fun,and a fantastic experience which I will always remember. I think we attended the 0200 show, IMAGINE!!
One day we spent on the beach which was beautiful. The water in the Pacific is absolutely breath taking. It is so-o-o blue, like nothing we had ever seen before. It was so enchanting and bewitching for the two of us to just walk along the miles and miles of beaches. We picked up shells and mementos and just enjoying being together alone.
My father had been in the Navy during World War 11 so I wanted to take a boat out to see The USS Arizona. The Navy is in charge of that particular memorial and provides a boat to transport sightseeing groups out to the memorial. This site is the burial grounds for 1177 men who went down with the ship. Their bodies were never retrieved and the site became their permanent resting place. It is beyond thought provoking to stand on that memorial, I cannot adequately express the deep sadness and sense of loss I felt standing there watching the reactions of others standing there. Perhaps, some of them were the wives, girlfriends, and/or family members who were tossing their leis out into the water surrounding the memorial. Maybe some of them were hoping to communicate somehow with their lost loved one with just their memories and presence. I actually believe it was one of the most touching and emotional places we have visited, much akin to Arlington National Cemetery.
That night Lee and I attended another club where they had the most beautiful spread of all sorts of enticing foods I had ever seen. At that time in my life I was not very adventurous with trying new foods. My mother had been a plain cook because that is what made my father happy. Consequently, I never had tried shrimp, clams, oriental or other ethnic foods. This buffet included culinary delights which I had never seen, and in some cases was not excited about sampling either. But that night I was so happy, and excited that Lee and I were together, I was willing to try anything and be a little more brave. I mean whats the worst that could happen?? One dish that I tried was actually raw fish and when I realized it, I just swallowed it whole. Lee had already eaten some really different, even "stinky "food in Viet Nam and enjoyed it. He was always "willing to try a new food at least once."
I forgot to mention that this club had another show that night which we thoroughly enjoyed. It was Don Ho, he was a native Hawaiian, and had done shows for many, many years. Again, we sat at a table with a bunch of American troops and we all had a ball. We were all in our own "little private worlds," we had a finite period of time, and we did not squander a minute of it. That five days absolutely flew by as we knew it would. From the start we knew this, and we did not dwell on leaving each other again. Lee and I were so grateful that we had this opportunity to spend some time together. It strengthened our marriage, and enabled us to fall in love all over again on that little sojourn to Hawaii. Both of us took our marriage vows very seriously and stayed true to each other. To be honest, it never entered my mind, besides I was so busy the entire day that I would not have had the energy. There were opportunities, but I just chuckled and replied "no I really don't need company." Lee kept extremely busy in Viet Nam as well of course, although he said there were a lot of extra curricular activities going on. Mostly though the work load kept him and his colleagues very occupied. Lee said there were times when he was on anesthesia call for 36 hrs straight, with no sleep. He said he would look over all of his notes for the various procedures and everything was as it should be. When he tried to recall the cases he had no recollection of them, he was so exhausted. It was there in black and white though, so it was completed.
When it was time for Lee and I to say good-bye, it seemed a little easier than his initial departure. Now I was stronger and much more confident, it was only four more months and we knew we could do it. Ultimately, we both had wonderful memories of that magical week in Hawaii.
Carol
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