I have been trying to recover some of the
things I’ve written since I went from hard copy journals to using the
computer. I came across this synopsis of
2004.
The first, and most, important thing that happened this
year is that Carson Braeden Garrow was born on January 20. Scott and Jenn were overjoyed, as were we
all. We couldn’t wait to see him, but they live so far away, so we had to wait
for a while.
Rommie had another tour in Iraq, and he
may be going again in February. We hope
it will be for a very short time. It’s
so hard on all of them when they have to be separated. He is doing something so
important for our country and he loves what he does.
I had mono with accompanying hepatitis for
all of March and most of April so I was under house-arrest for all of
Spring. Bill continued to go to work at
the Whale Foundation and I sometimes went to rest at the pool instead of
staying inside.
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We took a 12 day cruise – our first – from Ensenada via all the
major Hawai’ian Islands, to Honolulu
at the end of April. We went Joe and
Gee, who are cruise veterans, having been to just about every cruise
destination in the world. They helped us to plan everything. Going around Kauai’I
in the ship, seeing the Napali coast, and seeing Mauia Kea and Mauna Loa from
the ship was awe inspiring. We had a such a super time. I used a wheel chair to maneuver the lines getting
to the ship, but once I was on board, I
just had to take it slow if I got really tired. That didn’t stop me from
dancing and having a blast when the bands played on deck and in the atrium. We
went to Karaoke several times, just to watch and listen. We had an obstructed balcony room next door
to Gee and Joe, but we didn’t really have a balcony, only a door that opened
onto a railing. At least we could leave
our door open so we could hear the ocean at night while we slept. We liked Joe and Gee a lot before the cruise, but we really became fast friends while we were gone.
We saw Bryanna and Bailey for a couple of
days in Sparks, before we visited Canton, Michigan in early May to meet Carson,
who is the most adorable baby in the world.
We took a side trip to Niagara Falls to see
Bill’s dad, Stan, and Uncle Joe.
We had
a wonderful time as we always do when we see them. Uncle Joe has always been one of our favorite
relatives, telling the most interesting stories about the history of Buffalo
and Niagara Falls.
Later in the year, Scott, Jenn and Carson
moved to Virginia after Scott got a promotion with Ford. They like their new home and neighborhood but
they don’t really feel like Virginia is home.
We know how hard it is, though, to move far away from friends and
family, and not know anyone, since we did it when we moved to Sparks in 1977. They have made friends, and probably having
an active toddler to break the ice has helped.
Brian and Monique, our kids Godparents, visited
for a week in July. Even though they
didn’t stay with us, we were able to spend lots of time together doing the
tourist thing. Maybe someday, we will
live closer together so we will be able to get together more often.
Tony and Anais drove their
Harleys all the way to South Dakota
last summer, for a big motorcycle rally.
They had a blast. Tony is trying
to get Bill and me to buy Harleys!! I
don’t think that will ever happen (sorry Tony).
Anais’ parents, Roberta and Charles, have bought them, and the four of
them tool around, having a great time together.
We worked via email with the board of
directors, here at Kamaole Sands, to get some painting, new ceiling fans, and
some decorator touches at our pool. We
also complained so much about lack of security that we now have three security
personnel patrolling our grounds all night, every night.
After our travels in April and May, we
quickly got back into our routine. I worked at
the Whale Foundation summer camp 3 days a week. Every week we went
hiking, surfing, wind surfing and on a snorkel cruise. Bill continued to work in the store, and, in
the fall, so did I, although not as often as Bill. I was rather busy with my letter writing
campaign to make the changes to Kam Sands.
In November, we bought a house
in the gated retirement community of Toscana in Sparks.
Kathy and Rommie did all the legwork for us. Kathy even went to probate court for us,
along with our realtor and friend, Amber Cerfoglio. Our longtime friend, Susie, was a lifesaver,
handling our mortgage. We finally saw
the house for the first time when we visited in December. It is a tiny, two-bedroom with a pretty big
yard. We really love the community
center, which has a huge library with large, comfy leather chairs and giant
fireplace, one indoor and one outdoor pool, hot tubs, workout room, and meeting
rooms.
We stayed with Kathy and Rommie for
a very short time December. We had so
much fun with Bryanna and Bailey. Bryanna marched in the Sparks Hometown
Christmas Parade, and, of course, was the cutest one there. I think we
read every book they have, and we played Shrekopoly (little kid’s version of
monopoly). We took them hula skirts,
which promptly ended up on their heads, so they went around with long purple
and green hair. Mostly we talked, about everything
that is important to them, such as their dog, their cousins, and their dead
hermit crab. We wish we had been able to
see more of our friends while we were there, but five days went very quickly. We were able to see Sally and John, Christie
and Cliff, Susie and Kurt, Louise and Earl, and Julie, as well as two of Bill’s
work friends and their partners.
Then we went to see friends,
Rollie and Donna in Las Vegas
and my sister and brother-in-law, Joline and Bill in Canyon Country, California.
The culmination of the trip was taking a
cruise from Los Angeles
to Mexico
with Joe and Gee and 10 of their friends.
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| Joe and Gee on an evening sail |
We had a balcony cabin, so we could
watch the scenery pass from our room. We
had a wonderful time on the cruise, and got home only five days before
Christmas.
We had a lovely Christmas
Eve. We went to the 6:30pm
service at the Keawala’I Church in Makena with friends, Paul and Kathy, who live upstairs. I was the lucky one, out of 1000 attendees, who
was chosen to go to the altar to light the Christmas candles. Christmas Day, we had Kathy and Paul over for
dinner, and two other friends dropped by for dessert. We talked to all the kids which made it
almost alright that we weren’t with them for Christmas.
Regrets about the year:
We didn’t get to see Tony and
Anais who are still living in Louisiana,
at all.
Carson has
grown so much, and we haven’t seen him since May.
We weren’t able to bring Bryanna
and Bailey to visit us in November (but we’ve already bought their tickets for
their March visit)
We didn’t spend enough time with
friends on the mainland.
We didn’t have enough visitors
here.
Hopes
or plans for 2005+
To move to our sparks house, and visit the
Kihei place for several weeks every year.
To get a dog, after two years of being
dogless. Bill just doesn’t walk well on
a leash.
To visit Scott, Jenn, and Carson.
To go to Pineville to see Tony and Anais
To take Bryanna and Bailey on a trip in
November.
To travel to Niagara Falls by train to see
Bill’s dad.
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