Dedicated to Deborah Ann Tucker
Submitted by Joseph
My parents will always have a special place in their hearts for the island of Hawaii. It all started over 22 years ago, when two adventurous young people from two very different parts of the country decided to take a vacation to Hawaii.
My mom was a 21-year-old, born and raised in the Midwest. She and three of her girlfriends decided to escape the muddy March weather of their small hometown of Genesee, Michigan. They made travel plans to take a two week tour of the Hawaiian Islands. The travel agent booked them for the first week of their stay at the Wakiki Grand Hotel, on the island of Oahu. They booked their tour with a company named Your Man Tours. They had no idea how prophetic that name would prove to be.
My dad was a 22-year-old Texan raised in Houston. He and his roomate were avid surfers, and decided to try the waves of Hawaii. They made plans with their travel agent to stay in the Holiday Inn on the island of Oahu. But, two days before they left, they decided to stop over in California. Their travel agent had to change their accomadations to the Wakiki Grand Hotel just down the road.
The first night of vacation for both my mom and my dad, was the night that they met. My dad and his roomate were in the lobby, when my mom and her friends walked in and joined them. My parents noticed one another, started talking and sparks flew. For the rest of the vacation they were inseparable. Their romance blossomed like an Hawaiian orchid.
But when the vacation ended they knew they had to say goodbye. My mom had to go back to Michigan and my dad had to go back to Texas. They exchanged phone numbers and addresses and wondered if it had just been a vacation fling or if it would last.
It lasted. My dad phoned my mom, then visited her in Michigan and my mom visited my dad in Texas. This went on from the end of March to the 12th of November 1977, which is the day that my parents were married.
It has been almost 23 years, and my parents have told the story of how they met many times, and about how someday they will go back.