When I was a boy I lived in Hawaii for five years. From when I was
age 3 to 8 he was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu in Hawaii
I have a lot of good memories from there! Memories of playing in the
yard, going to school, watching Bozo the clown and Saturday morning
cartoons that were fun and silly my brother was born in Hawaii and I
remember helping him as he grew.
I remember as part of a school program I participated in King
Kamehameha Day. I remember wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a lei and
sitting on grass with a bunch of other students while hulu dances and other
shows were happening.
I remember my aunt and uncle came to visit us while we were there. I
don't remember a lot from their visit but I do remember that he
enjoyed eating poi, the mashed taro root food the Hawaiians made. I
remember my parents being so puzzled as to why anyone would like that
tasteless food, but he loved it!
I remember I had one jacket and it was made of opaque vinyl with the
Hawaiian flower the design underneath it so you can see it through the vinyl. When we left Hawaii and went to Texas the first weekend we were in
Texas it snowed. I had to wear a Hawaiian jacket in the snow
which was funny.
I remember when we left Hawaii I had a window seat on the airplane. I
remember looking back as we took off and seeing all the lights on the
islands in the night. They were beautiful! And even though I was
leaving it was such a cool thing to be on an airplane and to see the
lights from above that it helped me not be too sad. Plus I was only
eight years old so I got over that pretty quick.
I remember going back to Hawaii as an adult. My wife and I took our
rental car onto Hickam Air Force Base. I was able to find where I had
lived. We drove up and down the street and finally parked and got out
just to go and look at the duplex where I spent so much time. It was
a cool feeling to see the tree that I probably played in and the palm
tree in the front that I had sprayed water on wasps and played with my
army men in front of. It was nice to be able to show my sons where I
had grown up, something I couldn't do without a long flight.
Whenever I hear old-time radio shows that use a Hawaiian theme or
weave something from Hawaii into them I enjoy them. I also enjoy
shows based in Hawaii - we watched all of the latest Hawaii 5-0 series
with the new young actors that came out back in the 2000's.
A lot of good memories about Hawaii!
