Week 4: the things we left behind

Before anyone starts to believe that a move like this is easy and painless, let me make it clear that the move to Hawaii (or anywhere else for that matter) is never to be taken lightly.  My family and I had several uncommon advantages.  1) We have family in Hawaii that helped us make the move.  2) We have a familiarity with the islands, having visited very often over the past 12 years.  3) We did not have much to leave behind. 

Of course we left behind other family and friends, which was very difficult.  We also left behind most of the stuff we had accumulated over the years--furniture, cars, tools, etc. etc.  Because we were moving into the home of family members, we took primarily basic necessity like clothes, toys for LK, photographs, some books, and well, that's about it.  We found that it costs a lot more to ship items than they are actually worth.  For example, to ship a large container of furniture and belongings costs in excess of 8000 dollars.  To take a car, you are looking at a minimum of a thousand dollars.  So in our case, we felt many of these things could be sold or given away on the mainland and reacquired once we were well established in Oahu. 

For us, all of us, the most difficult thing we left behind weren't really things at all.  They were our animals, our cats.  Let it be known that Hawaii has strict rules about bringing pets to the island.  They must have up-to-date paperwork that shows they have been tested free of rabies, that they have their vaccinations in order, and that they have acquired a microchip.  And even if you have your ducks in a row as far as these requirements are concerned, there is still a chance that your animal(s) might be held anywhere from 5 days to 3 months.  I have heard stories of people happily walking out of the airport pets in tow, and I have heard stories of people being told to their utter shock and surprise that they would have to place their pets in quarantine.  One person in particular, despite having done the necessary work to gain clearance for his cat, still had to place it in a quarantine which last sixty long days.  I knew I could never put my cats through anything like that.  Two of them were extremely fragile anyway, and probably would not survive the plane ride much less an excessive quarantine.  And the third, well what can I say about Paco...  He was and will always be my very special boy.  He use to wrap himself around my neck to accompany me in whatever I was doing, and he loved to ride in the car--especially for trips to McDonalds for an Egg McMuffin.  He use to follow me around and meow loudly when he needed a pet or a cuddle.  In your arms, he became like a ragdoll--always purring loudly and snuggly up closely.  He was the kind of cat who loved people in general unconditional.  A very rare kind of cat.  And I still miss him very much. 

So be aware of the things you leave behind.  They may be more difficult then you can possibly imagine.

Dear sweet Paco, a one-in-a-million cat... We miss you every day.