Why did you ever leave?

Mary invited a friend to go with her to see The King and I in Charlotte. When she and her daughter got here, they came in the front door, then they all headed out the back door for Mary’s car. They saw my banana trees and the daughter said, “Look, Mom, banana trees!” I said, “Yeah, I used to live in Hawai’i.” She asked, “Why did you ever leave?”

Why did I ever leave Hawai’i? That’s a good question and I actually have a good answer. As I told her, “I was in high school and my mom decided to leave.”

Now for the rest of the story.

We moved to Hawai’i when I was in the 3rd grade. Our first residence was The Round Hotel (the official name is The Circle Hotel), located right on Prince Kuhio Beach in Waikiki.

We moved into a little apartment in Honolulu and I finished 3rd grade at Queen Liliuokalani Elementary School.

After the school year we moved to Kahaluu and I went to 4th grade there. At the end of the school year we moved again, this time to Kaneohe. We lived here the rest of our time in Hawai’i. I went to elementary and intermediate school (5th-8th grade) in Kaneohe, then 9th through 11th grade in Kailua. My junior year in high school my Dad got really sick and eventually took his life.

I remember the day the landlord came and explained to my Mother that he would be raising the rent. Mother told us we could not afford this increase so we would be moving back to the mainland. I was stunned. Devastated. And determined not to move. I left home.

I found a job that offered housing and moved out. I can’t recall what the job entailed. I worked that first day and then we all returned to this guy’s house. There were maybe three or four other men there. Here I was, fresh out of my junior year in high school, working and living with grown men. Strange grown men. That first night, oh my! Next morning I decided it would be better to go back home and move to the mainland.

We held a yard sale, sold as much of our stuff as we could, and boarded a plane bound for Nashville, TN. And that’s why I left Hawai’i.

But think about it:

The Round Hotel
Prince Kuhio Beach
Waikiki
Queen Liliuokalani Elementary School
Kahaluu
Kaneohe
Kapunahala Elementary School
Kailua

Pretty cool stuff! That’s what I think about when I look at my banana trees.