While most of you were at home happily quilting, my son had talked me into going to Hawaii with them. He's been trying to push me out of the "nest" after losing my husb. Well, the island (Oahu) & Waikiki were gorgeous & the beaches were perfect.
About 4 days in, I got a call that my last brother was very bad & passed away the next day. As if that wasn't bad enough, we got involved in the tsunami warnings after the earthquake in Japan. Emergency alarm went off in the whole area at 10pm. That's the first I knew something was wrong.
Hotel told everybody to stay above the 5th floor. The streets were evacuated by police. Since we were across the st. from the beach, I watched the water all night from our balcony on the 14th floor. Boats were told to get out into deep water.
I was terrified not knowing what to expect. All I could think about was putting my clothes & shoes on in case we had to run somewhere. Then my dumbest thought was "heck, I can't even swim" as if that would have mattered.
Thank God, the islands were not hit like we were prepared for. The water was a little high but receded in the morn. We were even able to fly out the next day on schedule. I was glad to get my feet into the air & off the ground. For my first trip out since becoming a widow, it was one to write home about.