I love you Mom

Four years ago I talked it over with my wife to move our family from San Diego to Saipan.  At that time, my mom had another stroke (the first happened in 2000), and on top of that, she was diabetic and receiving dialysis treatments three times a week.  To put it frankly, my mom was in poor health, and what concerned me aside from her degrading health, was that she had not even met my daughters.  That thought was tugging at my heart.  If she were to leave us, she would not have had the chance to know my kids.

So with my wonderful wife's blessing, we moved our family to Saipan.

Spending the last four years here on Saipan has been wonderful for me, for my wife, and kids, and most especially for my mom.  We were able to move my mom in to live with us and to help care for her.  My mom got to know my daughters, my wife, and most recently, my son, who was born here on Saipan.  Likewise, my family got to know my mom.  We've made some wonderful memories together and I am happy about that.

I write about this because my mom passed away.  It's been a month now since she's left her earthly body and my heart still grieves.  I knew the day would come for her to leave us, as her health continued to decline, but it's never something that you could prepare for as the emotions and tears force their way to the surface.

Despite my grief, at least I know my mom is no longer suffering, and that she got the chance to know my family and my family got the chance to know her, and that she left each of us memories of her that we can keep in our hearts.  And with those memories, combined with our love for her, my mom will continue to live on in our lives.

Hu guaiya hao mama.

Along The Beach Path

I found myself once more at the dealership getting my truck serviced for a mysterious engine light that was triggered.  It was my day off and so instead of waiting at the dealership, I brought along a book and my camera and walked over to the beach path that is beside Beach Road.

I luv this path, and it's a great addition to the Saipan landscape.  Many residents use the path to walk, jog, bike, fish, and sit to enjoy the beautiful lagoon and trade winds.

The path runs from Kilili Beach all the way to Garapan.  It hugs the shoreline and winds through pine and cocunut trees, offering you plenty of shade.

On this day I found a nice little bench under a pine tree where I sat and read my book, occasionally looking up to watch the fairy terns zip by, or the clouds stroll across the sky, or to say hello to walkers.  

This is a far better way to spend the morning waiting for my truck to get out of the dealership.  The beach path, just another reason why I Luv Saipan!

Here's a little video I put together while sitting along the beach path.

Tropical Fruits

(Star apple)

One of the things my family and I luv about Saipan is the tropical fruits we find here.  The local tangerines, mangoes, papaya, and bananas are yummy.  You can even find some of the more exotic tropical fruits like chico, soursop, sweetsop, star apple, and mangosteen.  These fruits are all delicious.

(From left to right: Chico, Soursop, Papaya)

What's even better about tropical fruits on Saipan is that for those folks that are growing them, they usually give them away to friends and relatives.  We're lucky that we fall into that category.  We get fresh fruit every other week or so when we get a visit from family or friends.  It's customary here (bringing something to eat when you stop by for a visit), and for us it's usually fresh fruit.  Oh, and boy do we luv it!

The mangoes are going to be in season soon, and we're anticipating bag loads of them.  Good thing we love mangoes!  You'll probably see a post just on mangoes when it's in season.

Tropical fruits on Saipan.... mmmm.... yum... and yep, another reason I Luv Saipan!

(a video of me enjoying a ripe papaya)