Our Story from Start to Beyond the Grave: Pearl Harbor (21)

We slept in on our last full day in Hawaii. It seems to become a theme in our relationship that the closer it comes to us being separated our moods slowly would change. Depression would creep in for each of us. It was short spurts of Paradise or playing house together. Just a brief taste of heaven and then we were once again hit with reality.

Jace*—- and I looked over our options for what to do on the Island of Oahu. Just what did we want to experience on this last day? We decided to visit Pearl Harbor,  the Arizona Memorial.

We went out to get something to eat close by our Hotel. On our stroll we came across a young man who took pictures with beautiful Macaw Parrots. When he approached us, I let Jace*—- make the decision. So, we posed for 3 photos. Later he would tell me a story about another Macaw his ex-wife introduced him too. She would take him into a store where the owner had a Macaw as a pet. If I remember correctly, she had been in the store before and was familiar with the owner and the parrot. Someone convinced Jace*—- that the parrot was friendly and that he should allow it to stand on his hand. Seems like the parrot had other plans. It took a good chunk out of his hand. Luckily, we had a good experience with the two parrots this young man had us hold.

Moving on we grabbed a sandwich at the convenient Subway Sandwich Shop for lunch while we waited for our shuttle bus to transport us to Pearl Harbor. When ever we are with a captive audience, Jace*—- is stage on! He is always very funny and the best story teller. So, in no time he was once again entertaining the fellow people in the shuttle bus. He made time past quickly and before long we were dropped off at the USS Arizona Memorial National Park. There were bus loads after busloads of tourists being dropped off at the same time. Again, my planning was not up to par as it was about 2:30 pm and they stop taking visitors at 3 pm.

We made it inside where there was a brief talk from a Ranger and then a short film. We were then directed to very long lines. There we were herded through like cattle. We were in a turn style that led us to a boat that would unload us onto the Arizona Memorial. After a short ride we were there. Jace*—- and I walked on through both getting a very eerie feeling. Jace*—- wondered away from me and went toward the wall where the names of the casualties were listed. I watched him from a distance and could see that the feelings that he was picking up were very unsettling for him. I did not disturb him as I could tell that he was receiving information and he was trying to sort it out. Time came to get back on the boat. We meet there. It felt as though we were being rushed but after all we had gotten there late. When departing from the boat we went into the museum. There we stayed together in silence as we looked into history. Once we exited Pearl Harbor it was around 5 pm.  We got on the shuttle bus and headed back to our Hotel.

Once we got there, we decided to take one last walk along the beach. It was close to sunset so we planned on watching the sunset disappearing into the ocean. It was such a beautiful moment and very romantic. We sat there me against his chest and his arms holding me close. Our conversation was about how beautiful it was in Hawaii and how we wished we could stay right here like this forever. We talked of our love for each other, our plans and how one day we would live under the same roof, have our own bed and never have to say a long goodbye again. We walked toward our Hotel where we spotted a Chinese Restaurant. We decided that we would eat there for dinner. It was pretty tasty. From there we went to the ABC Store for the last time. He bought himself beer and me a 4 pack of White Russians. Once inside the room we watched television, made a little love and drank ourselves into slumber where we held on to each other the whole night through. Why did this have to end?

Next the mad rush to catch the plane back to LAX.