Back in the US of A

 Chapter Eight – Back in the US of A

The trip began with an overnight in New York, where I stayed with some YWAM friends out on Long Island. Their oldest daughter was away so they put me up in her very girly canopy bed. The next day I had some time to kill before my flight to Florida. I watched some TV and it was really weird. There were so many food commercials that it actually made me physically sick.

I flew to Florida and went to see my friends on the Good Samaritan which was now docked across the Bay from Bradenton in the city of Saint Petersburg. My parents had since left the ship but I was going to see them in California. I also went to the Epcot Disney park with some of my other friends from the area. 

One of the people that went to Epcot that day was the girlfriend of Paul Tuohy, the 49er fan I had rooted against during the Superbowl the previous year. Paul had also now left the ship and was living back in California. But his girl told me that she and Paul were engaged and showed me the ring. That information was to prove rather auspicious on my next stop in Los Angeles.

Despite the relative cheapness of the plane tickets for the trip, it still cost just about all the money I had saved. It left me with about $150 for a budget of $50 for each of the three places I was going to visit. I had places to stay wherever I went so I had no housing costs but as you can imagine, I easily blew through two thirds of my spending money on the first stop. I had opened a bank account in London and obtained my very first credit card but hadn’t used it as of yet. My parents always taught us about the dangers of credit but I could see that I was heading towards that potential peril. 

I moved on to Los Angeles. The Anastasis wasn’t there yet but my mom was. My dad was off speaking somewhere and she was at the ship office in San Pedro. The staff at the office were having a retreat up in the mountains so I joined them where we had a good snow event.

When we got back to San Pedro, the Anastasis arrived. It was great to see all my friends again after two and a half years and I started telling everyone that Paul Tuohy was engaged. Paul’s sister, Laura was on the Anastasis now. She had actually spent some time volunteering on the Good Sam with Paul so she knew my parents. But as she had left the Good Sam just before I returned for Christmas in 1985, I had never met her.

One day, Laura came up to me in the ship reception area and asked me what I was talking about, telling everyone that Paul was engaged. Paul had not told them, his own family. All I could tell her is what his girlfriend had told me and showed me the ring. 

Laura investigated further and it turned out that the information was, in fact, incorrect. Apparently, the girlfriend was a little off the wall. Looking back, I wonder if maybe she had actually been joking the whole time or maybe trying to force his hand. But through it all, Paul ended up breaking up with her. That was the extent of my interaction with Laura at the time but it was a bizarre way to meet the person who would later become the most significant person in my life. 

My brother, Samuel was having trouble in Hong Kong getting his visa to enter the United States. He wasn’t sure when it would be cleared up but I decided to just go ahead and fly to Hawaii to wait for the wedding. Carol’s family was on the island of Oahu. My sister and her husband were actually living in Hawaii at the time also. They were on the Big Island doing another YWAM school. I decided to go over and see them and all my friends in Kona. Ron and Leslyn Musch were in the school as well.

When I got back to Oahu, Carol’s family graciously let me stay with them while we waited. Samuel had spent an extended period of time visiting them previously and had worked with a family connection who had a business doing yard work. They hooked me up as well.

The guys that worked the business were all older Filipino men so I was the only young haole. I don’t know that I was really a help to them. To make money in that kind of business, you need to get it done quickly and move on to the next job. I tended to be more detailed, which sometimes took longer than necessary. But I tried to work hard and they paid me every week.

On days off I didn’t really have anything to do. Carol had a few sisters and one of them was particularly kind to me. She would take me to a movie every once in a while. But I was very bored just sitting around and felt uncomfortable about being leechy. Sometimes I would go ride the bus that went all the way around the island just to get out of the house. It was a great way to get out of their way, kill some time and see the island again.

When my brother arrived, he did tell me that there was a feeling that I was not very helpful around the house. Carol’s mom was very industrious. She was constantly working on real estate projects as well as running the household and making fabulous meals. Someone like that typically doesn’t like to take help from others. But after my brother let me know what was up, I asked how I could help and they let me start washing pots. And while I was there, I turned twenty.


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