Forty Years, Barefoot in the Sand

My parents got married on a beach on the North Shore of Oahu forty years ago. This February, for their anniversary, my brothers and I surprised them by renewing their vows on the same beach.

We told them it was just a family dinner. When they arrived, there were sixty people waiting on the sand: aunties, uncles, cousins, old friends and even the pastor who had married them, now in his eighties. My mother saw the flower arch and stopped walking.

My father wore a white aloha shirt. My mother wore a crown of plumeria. They stood barefoot in the sand, holding hands, with the waves rolling in and the sun going down behind them. My father couldn't get through his vows without stopping twice.

My mother said, "Forty more." Everyone cheered. Then the uncles brought out their ukuleles, and we all danced on the beach until the stars came out.