2020-06-24 8:11pm
This past Sunday was Father’s Day, the summer solstice, and my birthday! It’s always bittersweet hitting the solstice- from now, the days will be getting shorter, and it’ll be getting colder.
I was dreading it. 27 felt like thirty. Time is going by so quickly I can’t seem to get a grasp on life. What have I achieved? What have I experienced? Where do I want to go from here?
I’ve graduated from Punahou and UCLA. I’ve worked in Tokyo for a year, I’ve lost a few years of my life to drugs, then I came home and was working as a Japanese-speaking tour guide at Iruka before the pandemic hit. I had finished the Hawaii real estate exam prep course but couldn’t take the test due to Covid shutdowns. Now, the testing centers are open and I’ve got no excuse for not having my license yet. I know I want to get my license. I know I want to fill my days with meaningful activities. I want to foster and maintain relationships. I want to be the person Turtle thinks I am.
For my birthday I didn’t really make any plans. I went to dinner with my parents on Friday and had dinner at Rebecca’s on Saturday. Sunday was wide open. Saturday evening I texted my boss asking if I could celebrate my birthday with the sea turtles. She said yes!! She said okay let’s do it tomorrow at 2pm.
I now had to find people down to go on a boat and dive with sea turtles between Saturday 10pm and Sunday 2pm. Only a couple hours notice, most of my mods are not in Hawaii, two of my close girl friends locally were on separate trips away from Oahu, others had Father’s day commitments or work. I totally understood. But the people that did come out were the real ones.
We did a livestream on Twitch and Captain Mike gave me a Conch he got on the Big Island. It felt incredible to be back on the boat again. It felt even more amazing to dive in the ocean with the Turtles. Greg made li hing pineapple and Sean brought out a cake from Yuriko. Chris, Bryan, and Raven and I went to yakiniku after. It was a perfect day.
I’m so grateful to everyone who was a part of it. Cheers to 27! Let’s make the rest of our 20s count.