I chose this song because even though I have learned to smile again, it not the same as before. While it may look the same there is still a piece of happiness missing from that smile and it will never return.

Maui – September 1986

It had been a really tough year as I was having to travel a lot and that was very hard as my hips were giving me a lot of problems. I decided to take Connie to Hawaii as she had needed to be rewarded for all that she was doing to help me. I had not had many days off since January 1^st as I was in charge of an installation that was not going well, and they had given me two others to manage as well.

Connie was worried about me traveling that for and for the pain she knew I would be in, but I had already traveled a lot that year and had learned to manage the pain as best as I could.

So, on the morning of Friday, September the 5^th we flew from DFW to Maui. It was an uneventful flight, and everything went smoothly. We had rented a nice car and headed to one of the best hotels on the island. That when we had a problem. I had paid for a room on the beach, one where we could just walk out to the beach, but I got an inside room instead. Since traveling was not fun for me at the time, I got a little impatient with the staff and they finally came up with a room for me, but it was a long walk from everything else. I was so disappointed in that as I had really wanted it to be special for Connie.

I was really tired, but we settled in and took a little walk around the place and sit outside our room which was on the ground floor not far from the beach. It was a lovely evening. The next morning, I order room service and I remember we had macadamia nut pancakes along with some kind of special coffee. That day we walk around a little bit but spent most of the day just driving around and getting familiar with the island.

I cannot remember day by day what we did but still can remember some of the things we did. I know we loved Lahaina as it was quite a tourist area and with a lot of hippies. In talking to them they mostly seemed to be Vietnam Veterans who just wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the traditional life.

We did take a tour of a pineapple field or farm, which we found quite enjoyable. One of the most romantic and enjoyable evenings was when we had dinner at a fancy restaurant on the beach and watch the sunset. That was so beautiful. We decided not to go to Hana as both of us were so scared of height and had heard about how twisting and narrow the road was.

One day we decided to stop at a McDonald’s that we had seen near Lahaina and I still remember to this day and so did Connie one of the funniest things to us. We were at a 4 way stop and there were cars at each stop sign. I start to go, and Connie jumped so much in her seat and yell do not go. What was so funny is she scared everybody as we noticed all of the people at the other three stops jumped to. All of us at the 4 way stop sign started laughing. I always teased Connie, that she was the only person I knew who could make everyone at a 4 way stop jump. Anyway, we finally got to the McDonald’s which was on the 2^nd floor of a building and the hamburger just did not taste like a hamburger. Oh Connie, I will never forget how many laughs we got out of that incident.

I do not know why I remember the day, but it was a Tuesday and we took one of the glass bottoms boats out for their tour. We could see Molokai from the boat. There was another boat further out between the island that was taking people parasailing. Connie was really interested in watching them as she had booked a para-sailing event for Wednesday. I do not know much about parasailing but as we watched them, they would land in the water and the boat would circle back to pick them up. That went the glass boat bottom guide said something like this “did you know that between here and Molokai, where those people are landing, is one of the greatest areas of sharks in the Pacific”. I have no idea if he was right or wrong but as soon as we got off the boat Connie went and canceled her para-sailing adventure.

One of the things I most regrets about that trip was at the hotel we were staying at there was a big pool with a place you swam under a waterfall to get to a bar located in the water. It was beautiful ad Connie swam over there a few times but because of my arthritis, I was unable to do that.

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We had a wonderful time, but finally, Saturday, September 13^th, arrived and it was my 40^th birthday and time to go home. The plane was leaving Mai around 5 pm and we would fly to Oahu and then leave later and fly directly to Dallas. I was really tired, and hurting after everything we had done. When it came time to board the plane, they did not let those need extra assistance or help go first which really frustrated me. Also, we had to climb a lot of stairs to get into the plane. It was a long flight home and Connie and I were both miserable stuck in the small set and the plane was full which made it even worse.

We arrived back in Dallas around 6 AM and we were so ready to be home. After resting most of the morning we took Connie, mother and her friend who came with her out to a nice dinner Her friend left the next day, but her mother stayed with us for a few more days.