Thank you to all for your outpouring of love and concern when you heard that Lahaina and other parts of Maui were burning. Neil and I were on the mainland visiting family when the news reached us early in the morning on August 9. A friend from the Big Island texted me to ask if I had heard of the tragedy? She was up way too early Hawaii time (turns out she was on fire watch at her home in Kohola.) She texted “Lahaina’s gone.” I thought it was a slightly exaggerated statement until I read the article that she included. I was in shock. The entire town of Lahaina as I knew it was literally gone to the ground. Neil and I were stunned and saddened and felt powerless to help our friends. Group texts started flying around among my friends and coworkers and all turned out to be safe. But some of my friend’s family were not. 
The nightmare continued when Mailea, Neil’s daughter who lives 5 minutes from us, called to say that she was preparing for evacuation and had her cats in their carriers and the car loaded. She asked what we wanted rescued from our house when she picked up Neil’s stepfather Morley next door. We are grateful to private companies and individuals who drove their bulldozers all through the morning on their own initiative to create a fire break around the houses up slope from us. They were able to stop the fire from reaching the homes, otherwise, once the first line of houses caught fire all of North Kihei would have been devastated since there were no firefighters or equipment within a half hour of us at that time since they were fighting elsewhere. The fire came within one or two football fields of the housing development before it was stopped. Neil got photos from the airplane when he flew in.
The Maui community is amazing and strong. Within hours, grassroots efforts brought food and water to the people on Lahaina side who were in desperate need. When they couldn’t go by road, they took it by boat, sometimes from the next island over. We love Maui and feel it is a sacred place. We will do all we can to help the communities and the families rebuild on their family land.
As I mentioned, we were on the mainland visiting with our family. I had a busy spring working in hospitality as a travel director and Neil started working activities and dinner events as well. We were ready for some visiting time. Mid-July we flew to Missoula Montana for 2 weeks playing with our grandsons Patrick, 7 years, and Connor, 4 years, and their mom and dad, Ariann and Eric Schultz. We loved having in-person time with them! Some of the best highlights of our time there are also the most mundane sounding. Sitting on the floor playing with cars, trains, and games. Going bowling or to the trampoline park. Driving to the lake for a swim. Dining at some of our favorite brewpubs. And helping Patrick ride his bike without training wheels for the first time.
Next we flew to Minnesota spending 2 weeks with Neil’s sister Cindy and her son and daughters. Cindy has done a beautiful renovation of her home and we thought we would have some down time. But noooo, she had a minion list for us (at our request). On top of that, we encouraged her to have a garage sale to reduce the basement and garage clutter so Neil could install heavy duty shelves all around the walls of the basement. Finally, Cindy was able to get everything off the basement cement floor and her clutter became highly organized. She is so happy. In fact, she told us multiple times a day for several days how happy she is.
A road trip to Iowa came next. Neil and Cindy got to visit their niece Stephanie, attend a family reunion on their father’s side, and have a great time visiting with some of Neil’s high school friends. We had such a warm welcome and great food at John and Cathy’s home, we want to go every year.
Neil and I then flew to Ohio to visit Dad and my family. Mom flew out from California and we had a family reunion on her dad’s side. Mom has a sister and brother living in Ohio who she gets to spend time with when she visits Ohio. Dad and Jane are still in their home on an acre of land. Dad enjoys his workshop and caring for the yard. Neil sharpens his tools every time we visit. My brother Warren and sister Pamela live in Van Wert near dad, and Melanie and Will just bought a place neighboring Pamela! I am grateful they are there to help dad and Jane. Mom and Bill are still in Ridgecrest and I am grateful Bill’s daughter is there to help them.
Neil flew home to Maui the last week of August while I went on a road trip with my mom and Melanie. Our goal was to visit seven of the states Mom hadn’t been to yet, working towards her bucket list goal of being in all 50 states. We traveled through 13 states in all from Ohio and ending in Virgina. I thought the New England states and Delaware were all she had left but she said there are three more: Mississippi, Alabama, and North Dakota. Maybe next year, Mom. We concluded the trip staying a few days with Mom’s grandson Will, his wife Meghan, and their children Jackson and Violet. Violet is Mom’s newest great-granddaughter and she a sweetheart.
Mom and I flew together to LA where I had a long layover. She took a shuttle to Palmdale, drove from there and arrived home in Ridgecrest by the time I was boarding my flight to Maui! It was great to finally be home and sleep in my own bed. Neil had been volunteering in the community several times already and I have been able to help some myself. There will be much to help with on Maui for many months.
Our travels are soon to continue. We will be leaving next week for a month in Southeast Asia. Our first stop will be in Cambodia for 5 days in Siam Reap and the Angor Wat temple area. Then on to Phuket, Thailand for 2 weeks where we will have dental work. Afterwards, we will stop in Singapore for 3 days to visit our friends Vanessa and George Spencer. Then on to Bali to celebrate my birthday. On the way home we have a long layover in the Philippines where we plan to visit Manila’s Old Town.
I will aim to do another update after we return! Love to you all.
