Gratitude Journal – Day 104 – October 12, 2014

Ugly sign, Great food…

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…caught my eye as we drove by that chilly Florida beach morning in December seeking thrift shoppes to search for treasures. myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope obliged as I asked him to turn around so I could take a photo of the funny sign. And as we pulled up, there they were – Ohana that we had never met before, but felt as if we had known them forever.

A food truck on the side of the road, with delicious burritos and hot coffee, decorated in a style that matched our own Leilani’s Aloha Lounge (our garage) and Margaritaville (our deck). We had just eaten breakfast at Waffle House, so we just ordered coffee and chatted for a good 30 minutes or so. Naturally the conversation turned to the beach, which eventually wound up on the shores of Hawaii. It’s funny how many people cross our paths that have either lived in or visited Hawaii. Is it a coincidence that water is such a common thread that bonds us all together? Perhaps, or maybe not as at least 50% of the human body and ~ 70% of the earth is made up of water.

We returned the next morning, anxious to try the breakfast burritos and have another cup of the delicious coffee. And we chatted about food (for those who don’t know, myDarlin’ was a Chef), water (see note above) and music. We gave them a jar of our annual Leilani’s Aloha Lounge Spice Mix and they said they were going to try it out the next day. They talked of myDarlin’s band, Kona, coming to play in the summer at the beach and even offered for us to stay with them. I captured slices of life that day through my photographs and shared them with our new friends. And as we left the beach to come back to the ATL, we knew that they were our long lost Ohana, and we had finally found each other.

Fast forward to our less than 48 hour Memorial Day Florida get away (life really does pass in the blink of an eye, no need to fast forward). And as we checked in to the hotel late that evening, we stopped by their road side food truck to scope out our breakfast for the next morning – and saw this sign, ‘Closed for Memorial Day Weekend – Never Forget’ A little disappointed for us as we wanted to surprise them (not to mention get a fantastic breakfast burrito and coffee), but happy for them that they were able to take a break from their everyday, just like we were. And I snapped this photo.

And so we told our Kona and ATL Ohana about these wonderful people at the beach, and let them know to visit if they are ever in Navarre Beach. I woke yesterday to find a photo on my Facebook wall of our Kona and Navarre Ohana together looking up in memory of myDarlin’, and I smiled knowing that we will never forget.

Today as I reflect back over the past year, I am grateful for God’s love, Ohana and water as it is what ties us all together.

‪#‎KeepLookingUp‬ ‪#‎LoveIsAllYouNeed‬