Why Hawaii?

I feel like every family has a happy place. For some people it is the mountains and going skiing, for others, they love the hustle and bustle of the city and for others, they love the beach. My family loves the beach. Growing up, my family and I which consisted of my mom, dad, brother, and grandparents would take one long trip every summer to Hawaii. We would go in the month of August for my brother's birthday because my mom always loved the warm weather which made it easy to figure out where we should go. A lot of people always associate Hawaii as just some island off the West Coast where there are nice beaches, really good shaved ice, and where everyone goes to Luaus. Although those are true, there is much more than just the stereotypical Hawaiian traditions of this place that we all think of.

In 2005 when I was just three years old, we took our first trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. Now out of all the islands, you might ask why the Big Island? Where even is the Big Island? Well geographically, it is the southernmost island and also the largest, hence its name "the Big Island." My parents picked this place because they loved the family atmosphere and the slower pace compared to other islands and to them, it was a little hidden gem. From the age of three till now, my family and I have made that our home away from home. Over the past eighteen years, we have built relationships with people who live there and have created a family with them and they have become real-life family to us. We talk to them all the time, text them photos of important things going on in each other lives, and have genuinely been impacted by these people. What has been so special is getting to take my best friends, golf teammates, family friends, and anyone else who is important in my life over to the island and introduce them to these people. The people in Hawaii have the biggest hearts you will ever meet. They truly embrace family as one of their core life values and whether they just met you or known you all their life, they will pour into you as if you are their own.

The hope for this blog is to share some stories of people who have impacted my family over the years. These people are so special to me and I want to share how they have changed not just my life, but my family's life. Some of these people I have known since I was a child. They have watched me grow up from a three-year-old to a now full adult. Others we have just met recently and they have poured into our lives in a new and beautiful way. I hope that you enjoy learning a little more about who I am and how despite being 2,519 miles away across the ocean, there are people who care about me and have poured into my life.