It has been more than two years since I left the comfort and stability of my life in Wisconsin. Still in the cozy nest of my home town resides my entire family, I was the first and possibly only one to leave. This is OK, I had to go, something inside me was pulling me on an unexpected journey.
The first duration of my "flight" away from everything I used to know was spent in Hawaii. First Oahu, then Big Island, and landing safely on Maui. Maui is where I spent the most time, a little over a year. I had been single during this life changing opportunity. Although it was often hard for me to be alone, and I couldn't help wonder what was wrong with me, I knew the answer. It wasn't time for relationships. It was time for Emilee to heal herself, her past, her old beliefs, time to find her true self. It wouldn't be until I was ready, that I could attract the one meant for me. Most people see Maui as paradise, a vacation, beaches, palm trees, and yes I see it too, but what I feel and what resides in my intuition is that Maui is a healer. All of Hawaii is magical and healing and it is said it either sucks you in or spits you out. If you are not meant to live in Hawaii, the islands will make sure you leave, and if you are meant to be there, they will call to you and make sure you stay. I know that I have a special connection to Hawaii, and all of the synchronistic and magical occurrences have proved this to me time and time again.
After a year on Maui I was feeling a bit stagnant, yes I was in paradise and I could easily melt away here forever, disappearing into the island life, and cruising by. But, my soul was ready for more, I have healed a lot of myself, learned the lessons I came to learn, and was ready for a new adventure. I always had an eye out for my potential partner, but I knew it wouldn't matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force the timing. I gave up on love in Maui, feeling like he wouldn't come to me here, that maybe it would be someplace else. I was ready to make a change and move forward in my life, uncertain of what I was doing, I quit my job and planned to move on the other side of the island. A friend from my life in Wisconsin moved to Maui and invited I come stay with him, I eagerly accepted. I put in my two weeks, gave my housemate my notice, and planned to live up my last days on the north shore before I made the forty-five minute ride to the west side of the island. For some reason living on the other side of the island is just the same as living on a different island, no one likes to drive all that way. This drive would be nothing to a main lander.
Counting down the days until I move to the other side, I have thoughts of surfing every day there, maybe casually dating as there are more options, working on a boat, plenty of new opportunities. None of these things would really satisfy what my soul is calling for, but I was going to continue the island thing. My last week up in my little town of Haiku I spend every night at the local Raw Vegan Kombucha bar. Here they serve fresh Kombucha on draft and have really tasty food. I always imagined me meeting someone here. Someone who is health conscious, spiritual, someone like me. I am sitting at the bar with my girlfriend one Saturday night, I worked with her at the restaurant across the street. We are soul sisters, we have a connection so great and uplifting, but she has to get home to her husband. A live guitarist is starting to play in the corner, I peer over to take a look, it's coconut Dave. I am a regular at this place but as I am looking over my shoulder, I feel a presence I haven't felt before. Someone is sitting next to me and I can feel a magnetic force between us, I try to eye him up peripherally. Now he has my attention, I try to eavesdrop when he speaks with the bartender. He speaks broken English, has dark hair and eyes, he is very light complected, muscular, and quite handsome. He is European, from Switzerland, he stands out from the usual crowd of sun kissed surfers and the dread headed hippies.
Something inside of me has the courage to start a conversation, in my mind I was thinking that he is from Europe, he probably has a lot of cool friends here and girls that like him, he wouldn't be interested in me, since none of the other boys on this damn island had been. I am very casual when speaking to him, no expectations, just small talk. I keep it short and I say goodbye, not expecting to see him again. The following night I go back to my place at the Kombucha bar to drink my quart of lightly intoxicating tea, and that same Swiss boy comes in and sits next to me. Again not being shy because I can't imagine him having interest in me, I start a conversation. We continue to talk through the night, he is quite popular with some of the locals that know of him and his story. He is visiting Maui for three months, staying with his uncle who lives here. For the last six months he spent his time in a wheelchair, crippled by back pain he obtained during his time in the Swiss military. He went from doctor to therapist in Europe, and no one could seem to heal him. As a last resort he came to Maui to see a well known healer, a German fellow. Within a few weeks He was walking again, and his story became quite inspirational to everyone that heard. Now that he could walk he had a couple more months to spend on the island. I love his story. We share our stories until the bar closes and we walk outside together. We stand by my moped and continue to talk for over an hour. Usually I am shy but he is easy to talk to, I suppose because he is much younger than me, I don't think much of us. We both enjoy going to the same beach, so we make plans to see each other the following day around mid day.
The following day I am seated in the sand, reading a book, listening to waves crash onto the shore. I wonder if that Swiss boy will actually show up today? He is running a few minutes late. My thoughts are interrupted by words I cannot understand. I look over to see that Swiss boy, who's name is Beni, talking to a European couple. I am only a few feet away, for sure he sees me, so I wait until he is finished. Soon after the speaking stops I look over expecting him to be coming over but he is walking the opposite direction. This stings my ego a little but I didn't expect much more because it is Maui. It seems that men always have more options than women, so why should he choose me. I started gathering my things, I plan to hop on my moped and go someplace else, but something tells me to go after him. I head in the direction he walked, speeding up a bit to catch up. I call his name and he turns around, he is happy to see me. He had forgotten his glasses that day and was trying to find me, but thought I left because he was late. We sit in the sand and pick up our conversation where we left off the previous night. I am little nervous, and I do not know why. I still think he has no interest, he had mentioned he would like to meet someone so I offer to be his wing man. I am certain he would like a younger girl, one probably skinnier and more bubbly than I am. Most guys like the little girly-girls, I am really calm, sometimes a little too deep for the average person. I invite him to come out with my friends that night, maybe he can meet someone there.
Later that evening he meets up with my friends and I for open mike night. He is handsome, and he smells amazing. He doesn't look the local people here, and I love that he is different. I have curled my blond hair, and am wearing my red lipstick. Even if I didn't expect anything, I was going to look my best. When he sees me he smiles and tells me I am beautiful, I am flattered but yet I brush it off. Throughout the night we have a blast, he doesn't drink alcohol, only lemonade, and somehow this is really sweet to me. I expected him to be looking around at other girls tonight, but his eyes were only for me. All of his attention was directed at me, and every few minutes he would give me this giant smile and wink that would make my heart skip a beat. Why does he keep winking? Is he winking at everyone? The night comes to an end and he drives me home. We drive through the jungle roads of our little town to my little cottage and park in the driveway. I thank him for coming out tonight, I really had more fun than expected. I reach over to give him a casual Aloha hug goodbye because I was still convincing myself he doesn't like me that way. He met my embrace with a goodnight kiss, I was surprised and happy and most infatuated. From that moment on this Swiss boy was my prince, I never had to question if he liked me or wanted to be with me, he made it clear every second of every day.
It was bad timing that I was moving to the other side of the island, I thought for sure that this would prevent us from being anything, but like a gentlemen he drove everyday to see me, the drive was nothing to be with me. We spent his last two months together in love, and enjoying the island together. We knew we wanted to be together but weren't quite sure of what the future had in store. Destiny would take it's lead and find me three months after we met, living with him in Switzerland.
Beni is the perfect gentlemen, he holds every door open for me and calls me darling, I have never felt so loved and desired. He is the first man to know everything about me. He knows everything about my past, everything that I was ashamed of. The things I worked on forgiving myself for, moving on from, I have shared with him. He knows my dreams, my passions, my goals, and he fully accepts them. He empowers me and I do the same for him. I want him to achieve his dreams and will encourage him to believe in himself. We both know that the Universe brought us together, and that everything we have been through in our lives has been worth it because it lead us to each other. He sometimes makes the joke that I didn't have to put him in a wheelchair to meet him, but I say nothing worth having is easy!
This last photo is of Beni picking me up at the Swiss airport. My prince charming.
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