Papaya Mom

We took off late into a thunderstorm - a truly spectacular sight. As the plane rose above New York I could see the bridges below, the beach houses and the great thunderclouds lighting up the sky with an electric show. We were three hours late taking off but now we were in the air and the cares of the ground started to fade away.
A meal was served in bumpy conditions and quickly the airplane started to sleep. The man behind me in his soft snore, the twins giggling as they squish into one seat together rather than use the two their parents bought for them. What a fun adventure and sleepover this must be for them, an excuse to stay up at all hours and watch movies with their parents permission!
I think of my daughter now as I am over the pacific with no lights below. Of course I think of her - she is part of me and we are farther away than we have ever been from one another. She is now probably waking up - it’s seven a.m. back home - and cuddling her Daddy with her sweet good mornings. She’s asking for a book, a chance to run around naked before the day begins and probably, this is just a guess, a banana aka. “bana.”
She’ll come out into the great house and get settled after a long night on the road. As they left me at Kennedy Airport Adventure Dad lost, for a moment, his parking ticket. When he could not find the registration (taken out of the car accidentally last night when we discovered a leak in the passenger door) they backed him out of his lane and called the Port Authority. The Port Authority never came and he found his ticket and left but this delay put him squarely in New York City rush hour traffic on a friday afternoon - when I called last at about 8 p.m. they were still 30 miles south of Albany, New York with a few hours to go. So it must have been a late night arriving near eleven p.m. and going straight to bed for our little Papaya.
I’m looking forward to landing and seeing my brother. This first day in Papeete is alone with Pono until late tomorrow night when the rest of the family arrives. Pono and I have never taken a vacation together and although it would have been better if his new wife had been able to join us, I’m still so excited to see her home.
French Polynesia seems so idyllic that I feel as though I must now understand part of what many tourists feel coming to Hawaii for the first time. Growing up in Hawaii I often wondered what it was like to come here expecting the travel brochure and getting Waikiki. It’s a flat beach thats overcrowded in my opinion and certainly was never considered a place to “hang out” for this local family. We got antsy when tourists came to the beaches we liked because soon enough those beaches would be busy too and on an island space is at a premium. When the land below your house is valued at more than the home itself you start to realize that being alone, or close to only those you love, is a true luxury. I guess thats why I am excited to see Pono - we’ll get some time to reconnect alone as brother and sister but also as adults who care for one another - I get to know him better than I did only yesterday.

Popularity: 15% [?]