A letter in response to Fred Atkins:
Aloha.
This is a greeting my wife and I have looked forward to hearing/experiencing since we arrived for our honeymoon in 1996.
Prior to our honeymoon, neither of us had been to the islands. The beauty, the aloha spirit and the culture hooked us. We saved all year and returned in 1997 and purchased a timeshare that year, which we used to travel to other destinations and to Maui, Hawai‘i and O‘ahu the following years.
Each one took a year to save for, but we wanted to experience each island. Each island has their own aloha, but nothing compared to Kaua‘i. Since 2005 we have returned each year during the month we spent our honeymoon, July.
We began with only seven days because that is all we could afford (we have five keiki). Over the years we have been blessed to extend our stay to 14 days.
We have brought (at different times) our keiki with us to experience (and respect) Kaua‘i. As guests (malihinis) we have attempted to honor our gift of Kaua‘i and worked not to be haoles.
Over the years we found beaches where tourists were not so present. We recognized that these places of refuge were for many who call Kaua‘i home also there place of refuge.
We read our books, cool off in the ocean, and leave when we felt we were intruding. However, the best gift we have ever received occurred two years ago during one of those beach days.
We were sitting reading when a family came and placed their belongings next to us. We immediately felt we were intruding and began gathering our belongings to leave. The family was celebrating an aunty’s birthday. As we were gathering our things to leave, we were immediately told we did not have to leave, and they invited us to celebrate their aunty’s birthday with them. What an honor. And what a gift.
Yes, we too have experienced the changes in visitors to what we call our second home. More traffic, more hustle, more me, less kokua. Although change must occur, we come each year with our own aloha. For me personally, I need the rejuvenation to help me be centered. If we would not miss our children, and now our five grandchildren, we would have made Kaua‘i our permanent home.
We may not be able to come this year, as we are considered visitors and the 14-day restriction would be all of our vacation. We are both deeply saddened by this occurrence. We will miss our second home. We will miss the aloha. We will miss Kaua‘i.
For those who have the privilege to call Kaua‘i home, I only ask that you remember, not all visitors are haoles, rather, family.
Mahalo.
•••
Scott Sleeman is a resident of Aurora, Oregon.
