The spontaneity and impulsiveness of buying two tickets to Hawaii for our ten year wedding anniversary very quickly turned into packing our suitcases and jetting off to the land of surf, cocktails and adult time. Sans kids.
I could wax lyrical about long walks along the beach, hours of shopping without buying a single toy and late nights dancing till the sun rose again. But none of that would be true. We still managed to find the only Toys R Us store in Hawaii. Still managed to buy more clothes and shoes for little boys than we did for ourselves. We were often too tired for late nights dancing and short walks along the beach were fine, just not long ones.
Our week away, despite the toys, was indulgent. Conversations were long. We held hands. We shared our cocktails. We stopped for long enough to notice the lives of other people go by, while ours sat perfectly still.
Driving along the coast line of Hawaii in our bright orange jeep, a sense of freedom came flooding back. Inhibition was thrown free to the wind and the salty carefree air of the surf took its place. I wanted nothing more. Well maybe just one thing….I wanted to see the sea turtles.
Facebook had mocked me for long enough with photos of friends in Hawaii all crouching down, next to the gorgeous sea turtles that swam up along the North Shore. Our first drive along the North Shore left me with no turtle, no photo. I was determined that I wasn’t leaving without seeing one!
Sometimes the Universe listens. One night while at a luau, there in a secluded cove, my dream came true. Two sea turtles came into the cove to swim and play. Just like that.
My words cannot describe what it felt like to be there, knee deep in the warm water, with the two beautiful creatures gliding by. My words cannot describe the sense of calm I felt. The feeling of worlds far older than mine that filled every sense. I wanted nothing more than to stay there for the whole night. Just being. Watching. Placing a hand out and hoping they would skim their flippers past.
In that instant, I wanted nothing more than to have my two boys’ right there next to me. Knee deep in the magic that only two sea turtles can bring.
Have you ever met a sea turtle?
