It started sometime in 2016.
The next three years where going to be big years.
Cheryl was turning 60 in 2017, I was turning 60 in 2018 and our 40th wedding anniversary was happening in 2019. We were achieving something momentous during those three years.
Cheryl has never been past Toronto, and I thought maybe a week in the Rocky mountains would be great. But... have you seen what they want for a room out there? WOW!! Just a cot in the closet is $200.00 per night! Welcome Air Canada. Saint John to Kona, $375.00 one way. Yes I actually read the promo emails. Hawaii is best shared with another couple, better to divide the cost of
the condo in half, split the cost of the rental car etc. It is basically the same price for a 1 bedroom as it is for a 2.
And because of the length of flying time from Saint John, you really need to book two weeks.
So I asked my sister Cathy and her husband Bill, and it was decided. February 2019 was going to be the time. Some time in 2017 we picked up my cousin Paul and his wife Dianne, and their friends Frank and Lorna. Flights were booked and paid, condo's booked and paid. It was decided. We would fly out February 1, 2019, Saint John to the Island of Hawaii and Kilian-Kona (Kona). Spend a week in Kona, then fly on for a week on Maui, and then home. From Saint John, no matter how you divide the lay overs in Toronto and Vancouver, it is a 24 hour trip. But please don't let that stop you! You get in to Hawaii at basically midnight, sleep in the next day and you're ready to go.
Travel tip for Parkies, or anyone else who takes meds at regular intervals; set an analog watch to the time zone you depart from. That way as you travel from time zone to time zone, and your smart phone is changing, the analog stays the same. This way you have a steady frame of reference to make sure you take your meds every 4 hours or whatever schedule you're on.
You can't describe Hawaii to someone. There are just to many senses involved. Everything is open air. The minute you step from the plane, you feel the gentle warmth, the air smells different, sweet.
You've just spent 6 hours on a plane, but you can feel the energy run through you.
You actually feel different.
So it's 1 am by the time we get to the hotel and checked in. Bill and I have decided we need a beer.
The girl on the desk points and says "head toward the umbrellas", so we do. We end up in a small local bar with bad Karaoke. Everyone in there knows we are tourists, they smile and go back to their conversations. I go up to the bar to get the beers. The bar tender says " aloha, you want me to run a tab?" Doesn't take my credit card, hands me 4 beers. Great place or what?
That was how all this started. I won't go into all the great places we saw and went to. I think Cheryl and Di pretty much kept everyone up to date on where we were and what we did.
The two or three weeks prior to leaving were the worse I have had in 6 years. I've had bad days, but not like this. I didn't make it a full day without a couple of hours of hard "off" time. And even the rest of the time I did not feel right. Could have just been stress, getting everything ready at work before we left, but could it be another change in the PD? I was terrified it would carry over into the Hawaiian trip. No mater how hard you try to hide what's going on inside your body (you think you are but you're not) everyone in the party knows it. It is one thing for me to be out of sorts, but I would hate to be the reason that others didn't enjoy themselves.
As I said, the moment I stepped off the plane I felt different. Nothing specific, I can't put my finger on it, but different. I think it was about Wednesday of the first week that it hit me, I had not had one "off" time. I was taking my meds on time and I remembered this feeling from six or seven years ago.
It was normal.
We were busy, we filled every day. Every night you crashed into bed, too tired to even fool around.
Thursday turned out to be the big test. I did something I have never done in 6 years, I forgot my meds back at the condo. Worse still, I had taken Cheryl's back up stash out to refill and forgot to put back in her purse. It was about 1:30 when I realized my error. I told Cheryl, she was angry, and scared. I was scared. I could see the concern on the other's faces. I know if I'd asked them to go back to the condo for my meds, they would have gone, but I didn't want to ruin their day out. Now Cheryl is past angry and just scared. I pulled her aside and told her " I fucked up, I am sorry, I don't know what is going to happen, but we will get through it together." It was 6 pm by the time we got back to the condo. I had not taken any meds since 10 am. Almost 8 hours. Other than a little bit of stiffness, nothing had changed! Wow! The rest of the time was perfect!
For the first time in 6 years I remembered what it was like to be normal.
For the first time in 6 years I remembered what is was like to be normal!!!
Jump ahead to Thursday of the next week, 3 am. I am sitting in a quiet condo. Everyone else is asleep. We are leaving in 2 days. It hits me hard. I may never feel this good again. I'm sad, not depressed, but the kind of sad when your best friend is leaving and you're not sure you will ever get to see them again. I don't know if I will ever get back to Hawaii again. If I had the ability I would sell the world and return, sleep in a tent if I had to, sell my soul, to feel that way one more time.
For 2 weeks I got the gift every Parkie longs for...... THE PAST .....Normal!
For 2 weeks I had the best vacation ever!
Mahala to Cheryl, Cathy, Bill, Paul, Dianne, Frank, and Lorna.
I thank you for the best vacation ever!
