Paradise

Rainbow in Hanalei, originally uploaded by Justin Davis Davanzo.

I don't really know where to start on this so i will just start...it dawns on me that i have not written for some time, mostly due to the final month of craziness before the wedding, but also because i needed to give myself some space and permission to not share every moment as of late. I was even remiss on taking photos, although i did manage to get a few that, for me, captured being in Hanalei...the above being one of them.

The overwhelming feeling of family and friends that I have been embraced by in the last two weeks is immeasurable. Every day I think about it I am more amazed and I feel more blessed. There are so many moments burned indelibly into my mind that I will never forget. Of course, the most important is the marriage to Nita...and i just can't believe that i got to be the one to marry such an incredible being. it really is surreal. Everything...kind of like the picture....it almost doesn't seem real or possible, but then you realize, it has to be because you were there....you saw it all, you heard it and tasted it...like sitting on the beach in the warm sugary air of the salty water, feeling the dense heat from the jungle and watching the rainbow form right in front of your eyes and thinking...."i knew this was possible...i knew it, i knew it", but man was it a long road to get to paradise.

I have learned that the most important things in this life are those around you. this wedding personified that 100 fold...i realize that without them I would not be here or be who i am, and I for sure would not have had the patience and wisdom to find my wife....The vast love and support that was shown and is shown each day is beyond explanation or thought or worldly existence. To see so many beings together, living, loving, laughing, dancing, and just being....well, it gives me an understanding of what it is to be rich beyond measure. There is nothing in this world that could equate to the richness of the friends and the family in life. I saw and heard things that have simply blown me away..things i never thought possible or never dreamed possible except for in stories, fairy-tales, movies and dreams.

I believe that this life is what you create...what you dream, but more importantly, what you are given by others. Of course you all attract each other but it takes real love and insight to know who your true tribe members are, and when you get it right....you REALLY get it right. The fact that two tribes merged on this island and became one is the most perfect meld of beings that i have seen ever. There were some missing of course and of course I wish they were there, but they were there in spirit being celebrated by the others.

this life is not meant to be about money, fame, fortune or any of that shit...but the sole purpose of our lives is to be loved by our tribe....

It all seemed to go by so fast and so slow at the same time. Funny, i think that is what it is like when you are a child, but you don't know that is what is happening...think about it...think about being a kid...every day is like that...adventure, love, laughing, crying...except you don't know the concept of time yet so you don't care and the summers seem really, really loooong...so long that at some point, you think, I could go back to school and be ok with that. You don't realize how fast time is going until you are older and seeing it pass by in minutes, days, weeks, months...wham...just like that...but there were moments when time stood still...just for a second...and as someone said during the beginning of the ceremony, although i am not quite sure who as I was so transfixed on watching NIta walking too me...they said, "Take it all in".....wise words and yet very hard to do in this life on a daily basis or moment by moment...but so important.

Take it all in...every drop...slow it down and really see and feel it all...can you imagine being a kid with this knowledge??? it would suck...you'd be thinking the whole time..."shit, i'm already driving?"
but i digress....

I waited a long time in my life to get married and I am glad...because if I hadn't taken the time to make sure things were just so, i wouldn't be sitting on that beach looking at a rainbow....i don't even want to think where i'd be sitting. In many ways, i feel as if life is starting over a bit....but with more wisdom and fun and understanding...and all the cliches stand true...like fine wine, life keeps getting richer, and better and smoother and more complex....all this is true...all of it.

And then I am reminded of another amazing phrase or thought that, upon a second hand telling, i marveled at and really loved...
I won't get it absolutely right, but in theory here it is....

When this life is done and we have travelled far and wide and we are at the doorstep (put whatever doorstep you want in this scenario), and the creator comes to meet you....he/she will ask you one question and you better be ready to answer it......

"Did you have fun?? Did you LOVE what I did down there?? Wasn't it a blast??? What about that beach on Hanalei????"


You better be ready for the answer on that, because i just don't think there is another reason for this life....it cannot have been created for anything else, but to love our time and our lives and those in it....

My family just grew by at least 50%...i love you all soo much.
I love my wife and only hope that when she sees me in the morning, she sees this beach and looks up to the rainbow and believes it is all real...because it is paradise in this life.