Happy Birthday, Mark

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Mid '60's

It's is amazing how fast the years go by. It seems like yesterday this little boy was scurrying around on his tricycle on the grounds of UC's married student housing in Albany, California. It was also in the mid-sixties that Mark's love affair with Hawaii would begin with our annual visits to Grandma and Grandpa's home in Kona. Now Mark is taking his own family to Hawaii, though like me, I think he finds the island of Maui to be his favorite. Certainly our early visits to Kona bear no resemblance to Kona today with its plethora of fast food outlets, wide, nicely paved roads and an airport capable of handling the big jumbo jets. In the sixties Kona was a sleepy little fishing village that would come to life each year during the annual billfish tournament.

In the late sixties the family moved to Newport Beach and Mark still lives in that city, he has mentioned that he will never leave. I am sure there are times when he feels abandoned with both sisters and his mother having moved to other states years ago. In fact we have a darn hard time getting him to visit. Maybe I need to bake a cake.

Hope you have a great birthday – enjoy, but please don't light that many candles without a permit from the fire department!!!