Last Full Day

fresh mango

I can sense today may be a heavy day. Today began with breakfast with Doug and Greg Rife (Marks brothers) and their families and the day will end with dinner with Amy Kaneko at New Chang Mai, a Tai restaurant.  I really think I could eat at Ken's every morning. Before we met at the diner we grabbed some fresh mangos.  Eating this stuff fresh will literally take your breath away,  it is like eating Hawaii.  We have been taking in the sights, sounds, fragrances and feels but to experience a place with all 5 senses is magical.  We sat down ready to enjoy great food and we weren't disappointed.  It is as if the 3 egg omelet had a cloud in it (thanks Doug).  "Fluffy and large they were"~Yoda.  Greg reminisced about the time Mark and I went to Pennsylvania and he noticed how his little brother had become a punk and he blamed me back then, little did he know we grew that way together.  We laughed and there were some very heavy moments.  I loved the time we had together filling in the holes to many questions we had.  I wish it could have lasted longer.  I feel it is important to introduce you to Wilmay.

Wilmay

This is the same waitress we had on the first visit to Ken's.  She is a great waitress.  Guys beware of Wilmay, nuff said;-)  We said our goodbyes and set out to see what adventure we could go on next.  We found this amazing lagoon. We swam over to an island about 50 yards out.

I really do have eyes;-)

I was the most fortunate and got to bring Finn out to the island due to the fact it got deep at times.  Finn has to be the best tempered kid I have ever met.  He is so laid back and cool, I want to be like him when I grow up.  We spent some time looking around the small island and then I made my way back to shore because our camera and phones were displayed and free for the taking. I swam back to protect.

I love these peeps.

We went back to the room to wash the salt water off and we headed over the New Chang Mai, another one of Marks favorite places.  Amy wasn't there yet so I went in to get a table.  There are two sections, I chose the warmer one (found that out later) but the jazz player was coming to our side so I made a accidental good decision.  Amy is a poet and deep thinker.  She has a kindred spirit.  We shared some of our stories about Mark and she shared some as well.  Connecting the past to the present was very important for me.  What can I learn from all of this?

 There was a subdued moment as the jazz singer sang, "Your Song" by Elton John.  She captured the moment well and Jonalyn remarked how the weight of the song is a bit more than most.  How true.  One phrase sat on my mind, "How wonderful life is while you're in the world".  We said goodbye to Amy but not for long, we are having breakfast with her and Mama T (Sarah's mom) tomorrow morning.  Today was heavy at times, but connecting with incredible people eased the burden.  Mark may have brought us together but it is Jesus that holds us together.