600 days in paradise
2013-2015
This Saturday, a page of our family history will be turned. Already or finally? On this June 8, 2015, I can affirm that yes, the Gendron family is happy to return home after a long stay in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. We can't wait to get back to the comfort of our home, even more so to find family and friends. We are looking forward to many things and personally, I miss French.
At the same time, we also feel this sense of mourning, experienced as the end of something great that transports us to the real fact that this dream adventure is already over.
In 3 days time, we will no longer wake up to the sound of the Pacific, its phenomenal mountains will no longer be ours on a daily basis and this transparent blue water will have become a sweet and happy memory. However, I know from experience that once we set foot in Quebec City, this feeling of loss will quickly fade away to make way for future ideas and projects. Each time the adventure continues in a different way and the surprises are always straight ahead.
Romance, nostalgia and photography
Still, it's always difficult for me to leave a place that has brought me so much. Romance and nostalgia for the time that is coming to an end. This is probably part of the reason why I take pictures, all the time, at every magical moment taking place before my eyes. I can almost say that I work all the time, work or passion? I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed with recording everything, but that's the way it's been for over 25 years now.
I'm a collector of the passing of time. With my eye constantly alert, I canvass the present moment as if I could hold it back. One day, towards the end of my life, when all I will have left are my old bones, these captures and visual testimonies will undoubtedly become a source of comfort, tasty extracts that my memory would have partly erased, I probably want to immortalize the whole thing for fear of forgetting and also because... it was too beautiful!
Last goodbyes
Slowly but surely, the material baggage accumulated since August 2013 is taking off. Truck, bikes, BBQ, table, chair...Sold! The most symbolic sale was 2 of the boys' 3 surfboards, for Marc, it really meant the end of the recess. Only the Tamba will be saved and will fly with us back to the Nordic location.
Olivier has just finished his last exams, he was different when he got out of the bus, like feverish. He had just said one last goodbye to his school friends from last year. The 2 young Édouard and Béatrice also finished their year in beauty and not without emotion, especially for Édouard who lived a 6th grade graduation in Hawaiian land, with all this tropical and festive atmosphere, necklace of exotic flowers around his neck (Lai). A "potluck" was organized for the graduating class at Pine Tree Beach in Hanalei, just a few steps from the school, family and friends gathered to share a last meal.
A little later I participate in the decoration of the cafeteria, nothing is half done and everything is ready for the last dance. Beatrice also had her farewell party at our condo at Pale Ke Kua in Princeville. A little 12-hour party for girls with the famous "sleep-over" followed by the "midnight threat". The next day, we gathered again at Rock Quarry Beach to enjoy our last moments together.
Every time I leave a place of great sensory experiences, my heart capsizes. Soon our family will be somewhere else, in a new parade with new faces and scenery, we will have left the common stage of Hanalei.
Throughout the journey, we met and affectionately attributed adjectives and special flavor to many. When I think of Jambe De Bois, La Belle, Le Sumo, Dos Croche, L'Hawaiien, L'Acteur... Ties of friendship and brotherhood have been created throughout our sunny months, but in general, all his faces seen and these conversations on the edge of a palm tree will become blurred, like a floating memory of a past era.
The discovery of a new place has always been lived with pleasure and enchantment. In a few months, our life in Quebec will be back to normal. As before, we will continue to dream of our next trips. New projects will settle into our lives.
As our children grow up and they will have their own dreams, desires and inspirations, they will have to make their own choices, no doubt different from ours, the parents. The important thing for us is that now we know that no matter what path they decide to take, they know that the earth belongs to them and that everywhere on the planet or almost everywhere on the planet, they will be able to live without fear of the unknown. Borders are now only imaginary outlines. The world is so beautiful and vast and there are still so many pieces of land to discover.
Choice and action
Whether our life is easy or complicated, we always have the power to decide what we do. Making the choice to come to Kauai to live was a bit crazy when you imagine what it meant morally and financially, but now that we have made it, all we have to do is to continue climbing our dreams with even more confidence and conviction. After Hawaii, everything will be even more possible and easier than before, the "why not" is now truer than ever...
I could describe the path of our adventure as such; passion, whatever it is, always begins with a surge of love. This love carries an idea which is then followed by a long reflection on it. One morning comes the decisive "yes" and finally, the action! This little word is the most important of all, "do it", "go for it", for better or for worse. The worst was never there for me, the best was always there, ready to be picked generously and unconditionally.
Gratitude and Aloha
Thank you to us, thank you Kauai and thank you to all those who have encouraged and followed us throughout the months. Time and time again, people and adventurers have inspired me to follow my path, if I in turn succeed through my experiences to inspire others to follow their dreams and say yes to life as it passes, then I am a slightly more fulfilled woman. Without sharing, life would be very boring and I believe that life is worth telling, for everyone to find the story that is worth telling?
