Meeting Kimi

I recently re-edited and republished the six Aspen Grove romance anthologies. I loved re-reading all of them since I have always loved the series. I especially enjoyed Directions of Love, the winner of the 2011 EPIC eBook Award. My novella in this one contains a great deal of our personal characteristics and family stories.

I was reminded of a very special event related to this book.

In November of 2010, we were on vacation with friends in Hawaii. We decided to do some sightseeing, and one day, we went to Queen Emma’s Summer Palace. It was close to Honolulu, and our friends had never seen it. (BTW, it is a lovely way to spend a day on Oahu.)

It was a slow day, and we were the only tourists there. Each couple was assigned a different docent for the home tour. Our friends went first since we wanted to make sure they saw everything.

Then our docent appeared. She took my breath away.

At the time, I was working with the editor on the final changes to the manuscript for Directions of Love just prior to publication. I took my computer on vacation with me specifically so I could complete the book.

This young lady was the personification of the protagonist in my novella, “Finding Love in Paradise.” Kimi McGuire was half Irish and half Hawaiian. She was raised in our fictional town of Aspen Grove, Colorado, but went to Hawaii to attend college at the University of Hawaii.

After staring at her for a while, I finally apologized and told her about Kimi. I had described her as tiny with long straight, dark hair, dark eyes, and fair skin. There she stood in front of me.

After I described my character and we began to talk, the similarities became even more striking.

Our docent shared Kimi’s ethnicity: Irish and Hawaiian. They both attended UH at Manoa, and both studied anthropology. Kimi worked at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, and our docent volunteered at the Queen Emma Summer Palace while attending college. Both were interested in their own Hawaiian heritage.

I don’t remember much about the tour, but our conversation with our docent remains vivid.

I wrote down her name somewhere. (I lost it shortly thereafter.) I gave her one of our author cards and wrote the name of the book on the back. I asked her to email us so I could let her know when the book was published. I never heard back from her.

I often base my characters’ appearance on other people: friends, movie and TV stars, etc. This was the only time I wrote a fictional character and then met the personification of the character in person.

I really wish she had contacted me or that I remembered her name. (It was unusual.) But I’ll never forget this lovely young lady.

Out With the Old—In With the New

A new year. A new decade. A new start.

But first, a look back at the holidays.

We picked up Savannah the afternoon of the 26^th of December at Long Beach Airport. Then, we joined her aunts, uncle, cousin and her mother’s best friend for dinner. Everyone—including us—was so happy to see her!

We made it an early evening because we had to get up early the following morning to go to Universal Studios. Savannah’s mom’s friend, Liz, spent the night with us.

We left the house at 5:00 a.m. and made the very best time ever—one hour, door to door! Our friend, Kit, got us passes. Such a wonderful gift!

We were early enough we even had time for breakfast at a terrific waffle house near the park. Then on to Universal.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly twenty years since we worked for Universal Studios. How the park has changed! Gone are E.T, Backdraft, Terminator 2, Back to the Future—most of the attractions we worked on.

We headed first for the Harry Potter area. The theming on the castle and queue area is fabulous! We were all Harry Potter fans, so we truly enjoyed being in the environment.

We boarded the ride, but it stopped immediately. A woman behind us fell. It took nearly 45 minutes to get her onto a gurney and get her out of the building. They restarted the ride, but unfortunately, they left all the work lights on, so the effects were compromised. Larry loved being able to see all the mechanisms, but the storyline was lost.

We went by later to try it again, but the ride was shut down.

We did get on the tram ride and enjoyed it a lot.

Liz and Savannah went on Transformers while we located a table for lunch. (They were very hard to come by.) When they got off the ride, they joined us, and we all ate.

Next, they went on the Mummy ride—after a two-hour wait! We went on Transformers and the Mummy the last time we were in the park, so we chose to sit them out.

We finished with the WaterWorld show. Still the best live-action show in the world.

Then we went to Citywalk and had crepes for dinner.

Along the way, Savannah collected a few keepsakes.

We returned home, dropped off Liz, and returned to John Wayne airport to pick up Kim. She arrived from Dallas on a late flight. Then home and to bed.

The next day, the 28^th, was the big family dinner party. Members of Savannah’s family as well as ours came—about 24 altogether. I loved seeing our big table filled along with the “kids’ table.” Kim and Carrie wanted to sit there, but Savannah, her cousin Vlad, and Carrie’s boys, Eli and Asher, staked out the table early.

The four of them had a great time together. Eli and Savannah are the same age and share many of the same interests. It helps that they are both off-the-charts smart! Asher and Vlad also hit it off. They are both younger than the other two.

Asher and Eli brought their laser tag equipment, so a rousing game began. Even Savannah’s uncle Chase joined them. As it got dark, we watched the lights move up the back stairs, up and down the waterfall, and through the trees in the backyard. They tracked in a bunch of mud and grass, but they had such a great time, it was worth the mess.

The next morning, we went down to the Outlets at San Clemente. Both the girls had gift cards to spend, and Mom felt like shopping. (This is code for she’ll buy them a few things if they find something they like. Kim and I do it every year after Christmas. This year, Savannah joined us.)

We started with brunch at Ruby’s, followed by shopping. Kim got some new items, and Savannah got several sweaters.

The girls enjoyed spending time together. Kim has adopted Savannah as her little sister.

The next day went by far too quickly. We watched several movies, and ate at the Northwoods Inn at Kim’s request. She had to leave the morning of the 31^st. Her trip was far too short, but we enjoyed seeing her for the little time we had her.

Vlad spent one night with us. His dad brought him down. We intended to go to the show, but the movie we wanted to see was sold out when we got to the theater. So, we all went to Islands for a late lunch and then came back to the house where the kids played games.

The next day, they played some more, watched a movie, and Vlad’s mom picked him up. We ate dinner here before they went home.

All too soon, Savannah’s visit came to an end. We took her back to Long Beach and put her on the plane home after a wonderful time.

We spent several days un-Christmasing the house. As much as I look forward to Christmas, I always feel good when everything goes back to normal.

Now, we’re looking forward to the new year and whatever it holds in store.

Wishing everyone a fabulous 2020!