Saturday 17 January 2009

Hawaii Five-O

The Missus and me just got back from Hawaii.  I've been promising to take her for more than 25 years, but frankly never had the money.  By a combination of luck, low prices and being down to only one dependant, we had a few bucks to spare and we headed to Hawaii to celebrate our upcoming fiftieth birthdays.  We called it "The Hawaii Five-O Trip".

It occurs to me that Hawaii is a lot like a good marriage.  

When you first get there you are overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the place.  The flowers, the jungle, the sea, the sky...  breathtaking.  It's a lot like "being in love."  

I would imagine that if you moved to Hawaii you couldn't possibly survive having your breath taken away every day.  Neither could your marriage survive very long if you felt as "in love" as you did the day before you were married, every day thereafter.  There'd be little time for anything else but breathlessness.  So, in Hawaii and in marriage, you get past the sheer wonder of it and start living in the "here and now" of everyday life.

But occasionally I bet you step out your front door in Hawaii and notice how beautiful your surroundings are, or maybe driving home one night there's an awesome sunset, or maybe on your day off you go for a swim in the crystal clear ocean and remember why you fell in love in the first place.