Easter in Hawaii

Usually, my Easter is with my family in New Jersey.

My Aunt Sharon bakes ham, makes sides and we have a huge spread. Dinner is around 2. My cousins, Brother 1 and 2, Brother 2's lovely lady, myself, and friends all hang out together well into the evening. But something major was different this year. I wasn't there. I was here instead:

This is a view from John and Travis's house. John and Travis are friends of my aunt's. Everyone who gathered were from all walks of life. Some were Occupational Therapist's, some were artists. All were friendly. My aunt wasn't able to attend this year, but her friend Therese was more then happy to pick me up and take me along. Instead of the afternoon, Easter began early. It was more like an Easter brunch then a dinner. We all had drinks outside and hung out in the yard. At first, I was nervous to talk to new people. I'm not SUPER shy, but I definitely need someone that I know with me to help get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, since there was no one that I really knew there, it was hard to get conversations going myself. Everyone already knew each other and they were in their own discussions. I began to miss home. I excused myself and asked if anyone minded if I called my family. The group said they didn't mind at all.

The first person I called was Dad. We were originally going to skype on Easter (after I instructed him how to use it and he created an account) But even though I brought my laptop with me, it was difficult to get wifi in the location I was at, so I told him I would call instead. He was happy to hear from me and wished me a Happy Easter. I could hear my nephews shouting happily in the background, and my step grandmother talking. I could hear some relatives getting ready to leave, since it was getting late there and dinner was breaking up. Eventually, Dad decided to pass the phone around. From Nannie, to Aunt Michelle, to Pop, each took turns saying hello and asking how Hawaii was. I confess it was the first time I was homesick. After I hung up with them, I called Brother. It was very difficult to hear him clearly, (our family doesn't have the loudest of voices) and I wasn't able to talk to him long, because Jeff announced that a water balloon fight was about to start. We were going to pick team members.

"You're having a water balloon fight?" Brother sounded a little surprised.

"I guess so," I replied hurriedly. "Gotta go!"

"Okay," he said. "Happy Easter!"

The water balloon "fight" ended up being more of a toss. We were split into two teams. Each team would have two people who would toss a water balloon back and forth to each other, then take one step back. Who ever dropped the balloon was out, as well as the person who tossed the balloon. Who ever was the last pair standing, won. Got all that? Hope so, because I don't think I'm explaining myself very well.

Team Huddle...

So far I'm not out.

Still not out...

Want to know who got out first? I bet you could never guess, but go ahead....

Oh, okay it was me.

That's okay though. I only felt bad for my team, since they had no clue that I've ALWAYS been uncoordinated. I got a round of applause for my efforts though.

In the end, everyone had a great time, including me. Even Buddy the dog did.

After the toss, I became more comfortable and struck up a conversation with Bill, another nice guy of the group. The food was amazing, and I'd like to take a time out and thank Jeff and Travis for inviting me to Brunch, and for the potluck everyone brought. It was a pretty good Easter, even if I was far away from home.