EMAILS FROM RIO’S MOM
Hi Hank,
Sorry I missed your call yesterday… we were driving and the voice mail finally showed up on my phone late last night. Drive home was quick and uneventful. Just like we like it!
Listening to Rio tell his friends today about how amazing his experience was and how thrilled he is to be free on the beach made me weepy ( gooey mom) I don’t think it has really even really sunk in yet that he can really go there.
“All my life I’ve felt that pit in my stomach when I go an inch too far into the sand or gravel and I know I’m stuck. This sand is where I CAN’T go” He still cannot get over just cruising’ right on in. Vick spoke about folks taking off directly toward the water and then just sitting in joy and happiness that they are really there at the ocean again. I don’t think Rio has even noticed the water yet… he is still so amazed that he has crossed the “impossible barrier” He has never ever known the possibility. He is still delighting in just crossing into the sand…. I can’t wait to see him take in the whole fact that he is really at the ocean!
We had to go back to the room and charge the chair for a few hours after our time with you Friday so we didn’t have much time to really “do” the beach. But we cruised down to Pier Ave and had beers and burgers and had a great time. DEFINITELY coming back!
Thanks so SOOO much for everything, and we are especially grateful to have made a new friend. You are an amazing man, Hank and you have made my boy’s life better and proved that no barrier is forever. You are a GREAT GUY! SO glad to have met you. Like it or not, you are stuck with a few new friends. Vick and Deb are awesome too. Please give our love and hugs to the whole team. We will keep in touch and I will definitely send pix from Hawaii etc!
Adios for now, Kish
Hi Hank!
We are back from Hawaii and finally coming up for air after unpacking. WONDERFUL trip!
I can’t express how amazing and terrific it was for Rio to have his beach rover!!!! It made all the difference in the world! It worked great and Ed and I got really good at switching back and forth. Ed got it down solo to 11 minutes! We drove around in our rented U-Haul and loaded in either mode with 2 boards from Home Depot! Went beach to beach and into town in great U-Haul style. The UHowlies!
Rio was the hit of North Shore! He had 3 surf pros fighting over who got to buddy with him and he went out every day! Learned how to wipe out too! That makes you a REAL surfer! We all had a BLAST! You need to get to Oahu and surf too. Buttons (the surf pro and instructor in the pictures) works with a program that gets guys like you and Rio out on the waves – you will definitely LOVE it!
Also PLEASE send me some brochures so I can send them on to our friends who are involved in Access Beach Hawaii and Wounded Warriors Hawaii. They both want to try and get the foundations to purchase a beach chair. So, please send us some brochures and I will forward them on to our surf pro friends who will try and pitch the idea. Who knows!!
I also did some shopping for you and hope you like what we got. The shirts are from our favorite local surf shop and the jewelry is made from shells, fresh water pearls and coral. Hope the ladies like it. I bought a few extra goodies too and you can decide who gets what! I really hope you like the Puka necklace we found. It was hand made by a Haleiwa local all from shells found on North Shore beaches. REALLY GOOD JuJu! Many we saw were commercially made and most were from Indonesia, but this one is the real deal! It’s really cool. We were so so happy when we found it because it was so much nicer than any of the others we saw, and had so much good spirit in it. The total for the stuff we picked up was $110.00 The Puka shells, however, are a gift from us to you in gratitude for bringing Rio freedom on the beach!
Mahalo!! Rio sends his love and thanks too. I will get your stuff in the mail this week. Hope you like!
Adios and Aloha, Kish