PART ONE

Not too many people have an opportunity to live in Hawaii, and I never imaged I ever would, let alone even visit the Island on a vacation.  It all began when I decided to put a personal profile on a dating service, and out of hundreds of responses I would end up marrying a man from Maui.  He was down to earth, single for many years, very kind, and we had a lot in common … especially our values and spirituality. 

He wasn’t rich, and actually barely hanging on when we met.  He was looking to get off Island, and that was perfect for me.  I didn’t want to give up my home, move away from my family, and quit my decade long career in real estate.  He had lived on Maui for twenty years or so, having built a machine shop business repairing and building engines.  He wanted out of that business and was ready to get back to the mainland - which prompted him to sign up on the dating service - like me, he wanted a new life.  He already had a buyer who wanted to take over his business and purchase all the machinery.  He had already told his close friends he planned to leave the Island ... leaving decades of memories behind. 

 After months of email conversations, text messages, sharing photos and lots of phone calls, we grew closer together.  When he said he bought a ticket to come meet me, I was both surprised and shocked - we were about to take things to the next level.  I was very excited, and a bit nervous ... after my prior experience meeting someone else that was most horrible.  When he came walking off the plane, I knew at first glance that my feelings were intact, and standing face to face in harmony was such a relief that he was who I knew him to be.  For the next four days I took him on a tour of my area, which he loved and was eager to come and start a new life with me.  We would stay up each night into the early morning hours just talking and cuddling.  He was real gentleman.  The day before he left, he asked me to marry him.  I was so excited.  Within weeks he sold, dumped and gave away most everything he owned, shipping what little personal belongings he had left, including his classic Chevy El Camino, and hopped on a plane to Oregon.  However, when all planes were grounded after 9/11, when the New York Twin Towers were hit by planes, his flight was delayed.  Emotions were intensified at that time.

Once he made it safely, several months later we got married in a simple home ceremony at my house.  During that time, he had told me he needed a rest after so many years of hustle, and I wanted to give him that time.  When it became too much time, I became concerned.  He hadn’t looked for a job, and he seemed quite content being a house husband.  I, on the other hand, was not looking for a house husband and tried to encourage him to find a job.  He finally decided to get his real estate license.  I wasn’t thrilled about that either, as real estate wasn’t doing so good then, and frankly, he really didn’t have the personality to be a successful Realtor.  Yet, he went forward with his desire and spent his time during the days going to real estate school ... while I worked everyday supporting him.  After a couple of months he passed his tests and got his license.  He came to work at my office.  Being that I was the Office Manager, I talked my boss into hiring him, even though he too didn’t think my husband had what it took.

After several months, and only one closing I actually provided for him, he realized he didn’t have that salesmanship ability, but at least the commission on that one sale reimbursed him for all the loss of funds he had invested.  Then we talked about opening a computer school.  He was very smart and intelligent on hardware and software, and with my experience, it sounded like a great idea.  I talked to my boss – the owner/broker where I worked – on coming aboard, since I knew his lease was burying him every month.  He agreed, and I would continue running the office.  The two agents we had working with us had already decided to leave, making the decision much easier for him. 

My husband and I figured with the real estate office we could afford to secure a new location for our business venture.  The owner/broker was a one-man show, a multi-million-dollar producer.  His commissions alone could pay my salary and support the office.  I talked my husband into buying a building, when we couldn’t find anywhere to lease at a reasonable price.  My boss had a client who was selling a vacated old four bay school bus garage that included a small unfinished office space.  He gave us a good deal on the purchase, and then we spent thousands of dollars creating a beautiful enlarged office space for the real estate, and a smaller private space for the computer school.  We did all the work ourselves from building walls to sheet rock, installing a bathroom to laying carpet.  I even hand made the curtains and painted the outside.  I also painted a huge rainbow on the street-facing wall.  In the back there were still two huge bays to do something with, so he opened a car detail and paint shop. 

A lot of the things he shipped from Maui were his giant tool boxes, filled with so many tools I’d never seen before, but he had already expressed that he didn’t want to be mechanic ... and had told me not to tell anyone he had such a skill, or else everyone and their cousin will want him to fix their car.  Which made me wonder why he brought all his tools and tool boxes.  They must have meant a lot to him to pay for the weight on shipping ... though I never questioned him on that.

Well, it took a while to get it all done, and then my husband and my boss had a falling out, so the real estate office deal fell through.  I was really saddened by that because it was what we needed to support the place.  The loan payment was a thousand dollars a month, and with the utilities, phone and internet service, it was a lot more than we could bring in, even though we tried so hard to make it work.  Eventually, we ended up turning the building back to the seller, leaving him with all our hard work and investment cost … plus, we owned a month payment so we left all the computers, desks, furniture, and shop equipment as payment.  We had even opened a thrift store and filled it with secondhand items, as well as used jewelry and antique dolls that we would purchase weekly at the auction.  We had high hopes, and the seller got it all, so he would let us out of the contract without legal action. 

I was still working at the real estate office when my husband asked me if I wanted to go to Maui on a belated honeymoon.  I said yes.  With the money he had left over from the one and only sales commission, we booked our flight and condo for 5 days.  Before we left on our trip, we talked about moving there, if I like it.  I was surprised he would want to return, though he never did seem very happy living in Oregon.  He said he might enjoy a new adventure with me, which would make him returning so much nicer.  I think he missed the Island life.  I wasn’t taking things too serious at that point, while contemplating the idea.  I’d blindly taken huge leaps before, but this leap was much bigger than I’d ever had, and until I had been there, I couldn’t make such a big decision.

From the moment we stepped off the plane I was in paradise.  My husband had made arrangements for a friend to pick us up and take us to the condo.  I was in awe of the huge plants growing everywhere, plants that I had as houseplants.  I had no idea they could grow so huge.  The next morning his friend took us to get my husband’s race car … which was stored at another friends up country.  For that week he took me around the Island, introduced me to his friends, as we spent the evenings walking in warm winds along the beach … watching amazing sunsets, listening to crashing waves.  I was in love with Hawaii the very first day.  I knew immediately I wanted to live there.  I called my daughter two days later and asked her to put a For Sale sign in the yard, and she agreed to put her number for all showings while we were gone.  I told my husband that if I get a call from a serious buyer, it’s a sign that it’s meant to be.  Two days later I got that call.

When I answered my cell phone, there was a woman who said my daughter had just showed the house, and her and her husband just love it.  Telling me it was perfect because it was close to her daughter’s family.  She said they had been looking for months in the area to be closer to them, and happen to be in there for a birthday celebration, when they saw my For Sale sign in the yard.  She went on to tell me that their home in Klamath Falls just went into escrow and they had 30 days to move.  At that point they were thinking of storing everything and living at their daughter and son-in-law’s until they found a home.  She said they wanted to make an offer right now, at full price.  I promised her I wouldn’t take another offer until we met, but we wouldn’t be back for a couple of more days.  She said that they were planning to leave the next day and return to Klamath Falls, but would postpone their departure to meet with us.  She wanted to know exactly when our flight to Portland would land and the three-hour drive home timeframe, because she said, “We’ll be at your front door waiting,” and that is exactly what happened.

When we arrived home that early evening, I couldn’t believe it.  The woman and her husband were sitting on our front porch in their own lawn chairs waiting for us.  We hadn’t even unpacked the car when I was sitting at the kitchen table writing the offer.  It was an all-cash deal.  I knew we couldn’t get the timing exact on their closing, so I offered to let them store their belongings in my two-car garage for the few days we needed to close escrow.  I knew I had to quit my job and focus solely on preparing for my new future ... oh my gosh, we had barely a month to prepare for the biggest move of my life ... the biggest sacrifice of my life. 

Every day we had a garage sale.  We were able to box up as much as we could from the thrift store before turning the keys over, and we put the items with the rest of the garage sale stuff.  As I watched nearly everything I own, all the things I had dragged around for decades ... just disappeared, I was sad, but hopeful.  Whatever didn’t sell - with time running out - so much went to the Goodwill.  I was down to a quarter of what I had ... the least amount I had ever owned.  But it all had to go because the cost was too much to ship.  All my furniture was sold.  The giant flat screen TV less than a year old ... gone at half price.  My beautiful cherry wood bedroom set - with one of the best mattresses I have ever slept in - was one of the last items to disappear, at a cheap price that made me cry.  We had to sleep on the floor for a few nights.  And even my Great Grandmothers’ dresser - which was very hard and painful to let go - also had sold for far less than it was worth.  What people were unwilling to pay for all my precious treasures was so very sad and very disappointing.  I gave up a lot, and some things I gave to friends, like a cherished antique oak buffet from Denver, Colorado.  In my mind I felt it was worth it, worth making such a crazy decision because I thought I would live there forever.  Little did I know ...

My husband gave up a lot too including all his tool boxes and tools … because he wasn’t taking them back to Maui, and he was heartbroken too when people offered so little for them.  He even sold his classic Chevy El Camino, after he spent a thousand dollars to ship over, and couldn’t afford to ship it back.  Whatever we had left - which was so little - we then loaded a UHaul truck and drove to Eugene where we rented a shipping container pallet.  We packed it all in and drove away.  After the garage was empty, the new owners filled the garage with all their belongings.  It all happened so fast, the whirlwind hit again.

PART TWO

The house was empty, the travel bags packed, and we were on our way to San Francisco where I put my Honda on a shipping container to Maui.  We took a taxi to a motel where we spent the night and hopped a bus to the airport in the early morning.  It was a very long trip and we were exhausted.

When we reached Maui, my husbands friend picked us up and we spent the night at his condo.  The next day he took us up country to get my husbands race car.  We picked up a newspaper to try and find a rental and stopped in at Starbucks so I could get a blended mocha coffee.  As we were entering the door, another friend of my husbands was coming out.  He was surprised to see him back, because when he left, no one thought he would ever return.  His friend, Steve, came back in and sat down at a table with us to visit.  My husband told him we just got back last night and was looking for a place to live.  It was like a miracle when Steve invited us to stay in his condo.  He told us he had rented it out to a group of young exchange students from Japan for part of the summer and they trashed it.

Steve told my husband he would let us live there rent free if we cleaned it up and repaired the damage, which he would pay for the cost of all material.  I couldn’t believe it!  My husband told me he once lived there as a roommate with Steve before he bought another place and moved out, leaving my husband to find another place to live.  When Steve took us to the condo, I was both excited and relieved, because the rentals we had seen in the paper were very expensive, and I thought we might have to live with other people, since that is what so many had to do.  But when I saw the condo, even a total mess, it was absolutely perfect, located right across the road from the oceanfront … and rent free … at least for a while, anyway.

We moved right in and began cleaning the place up.  Steve wasn’t kidding, the place was really torn up. The first thing we did was take out bags and bags of garbage and scrub the kitchen and bathrooms.  We then painted the entire place, retiled all the flooring, and repaired the wood planks on the staircase leading to the bedroom loft, including retiling the showers.  We practically remodeled the entire condo, which took about six months – only because my husband was so slow in getting things done, and even Steve was getting impatient.  It was a two bedroom, two bath condo with a lovely lanai facing the ocean, and the doves were amazing, flying in and out.  I started to put out bird seed and every day more doves would come, until there were over 30 at a time, some flew inside and we would let them come and go.  Of course, they pooped all over, including below on their lanai, and the complaints put a stop to that.

We were on the fifth floor where we could hear the waves crashing, sometimes at midnight I would just lay in bed listening.  Every night we saw beautiful sunsets over the sea.  Many evenings we would put on our flipflops and walk down to the beach, watching the waves crash, walking barefoot in the sand.  When we weren’t working on the condo we were traveling around the Island.  He took me all over, even to some of the most remote areas.  We went out to eat at various restaurants, including one that Willy Nelson owned.  

After we had been there a few of months, and much of the work had been done, I tried to encourage my husband to look for work when Steve mentioned he was going to have to start charging us … at least for the monthly maintained fee, that most all the condos on Island charged ... and it was several hundreds.  My funds were going quick paying for everything from food to utilities to everyday expenses, and that fee was a good reason for my husband to find a job.  He wasn’t thrilled about that, just as he wasn’t thrilled about it in Oregon.  Yet, I wasn’t going to spend all my money from the sale of my house to support him forever.

My youngest daughter, who was out of school and working at the time, was invited to come to Maui, as I had told her I would bring her over when we were settled.  I paid $1,000 to fly her over during Christmas for a week, hoping she would love it as much as I and decide to live there with us.  She stayed in the loft most of the time, talking to her boyfriend most of the time, and didn’t seem happy to be away from him.  I tried to make the most of her time while there, but all she wanted to do was get back to Oregon.  I was very disappointed that she didn’t want to live there … things may have been so much different if she had.

Things began to get a little tense between my husband and I because of my insistence he get a job.  He put some effort into it, like he did in Oregon, always telling me that there was no work.  One day I finally told him if he wasn’t going to go to work, then I would look for a job, and that is exactly what I did.  I went online and began looking.  I sent my resume to a few available jobs and was contacted by a woman who wanted to meet me.  She set a place and time to meet at a coffee shop.  The only problem was, all of our things hadn’t arrived from Oregon yet, except my Honda which had only arrived long before our stuff.  Unfortunately, there was a strike before the cargo ship had left the Portland dock and it was a couple of months before they started shipping again.  The backlog was so long that it actually took three months to get our things, so I didn’t have a nice outfit to wear to the interview.  But I really didn’t care, I was only going in hopes my husband would get motivated himself.  I really didn’t want to go to work, but I thought this might force him to seek a job too.

When my Honda had arrived I was so happy to have my car back that when I got in it, I started to cry.  It’s all I had at the moment that brought me some familiar comfort.  When my husband drove me to the coffee shop he waited for me in the car.  When I walked toward the coffee shop I saw a very well dressed younger and attractive woman sitting outside at a table.  She waived to me as I went to the table.  I felt a little uncomfortable in my shorts and flip flops as I sat down, apologizing for my attire, informing her that all my things were on a ship and should arrive soon.  She didn’t seem bothered by my unprofessional appearance ... it was, I suppose, after all Maui ... the ‘Hang Loose’ kind of mindset. 

I wasn’t sure what the job was, only that they were looking for a personal assistant.  After she introduced herself as Kathy, we chatted for a while, telling me what they were looking for, a personal assistant to her.  So she had a huge decision in the process, although her boss had final word.  She said they were both impressed with my resume.  She said I would mostly be working in the office with her doing paperwork, writing letters, filing, and sometimes arranging meetings.  It sounded like a fun and easy position.  Kathy said she would like Grant, the man who I would be working for, to meet me.  She made a call, and in a few minutes a shiny black Mercedes pulled up and a fairly attractive man in his fifties got out of the back seat.  He walked over to us, casually dressed, sunglasses and cap, and introduced himself.  We didn’t shake hands.  Kathy introduced me as he sat down.  “Aloha,” he said while Kathy told him a little about me.  He sat for few minutes and asked me some personal questions like how long I had lived on Maui, and if I enjoyed living there.  He looked down at my feet and made a humorous remark, “Nice flip flops,” with a grin.  I smiled as he stood up and said it was nice meeting me.  I said the same and he walked away. 

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that he was actually parked in view of us, perhaps even listening to our interview, waiting for her call should she find someone worth meeting.  He seemed nice, but I really couldn’t tell much from the few minutes he stayed.  Kathy then thanked me for coming and said she’d call me later with his decision, letting me know they had dozens of applicants, and that she had been interviewing for over a week.  She said he was very particular in whom he chooses.

When we left, I told my husband I didn’t think I got it.  However, about hour later Kathy called and asked me if I could come to his home for a second interview, saying me and another lady were asked to come.  She gave the address in Wailea and set an appointment time for the next day.  My husband drove me out there so I would know my way the following day.  Wailea is where most all the wealthy live, and where all the high price hotels were, golf courses and fine dining.  It was also where Steve owned a fine dining restaurant on a golf course, and where he lived.

The area where the man lived was a gated community, and Kathy had given me the code to get in.  The next morning I arrived at his house, which was more like a castle.  It was huge with a six bay car garage filled with expensive cars, and a white limo parked in the driveway.  I was greeted at the door by Kathy and followed her into the living area.  Although I was blown away by the surroundings, I didn’t act impressed and kept my professional composure.  A few minutes later the other lady showed up and we sat waiting for Grant to appear.  The other lady looked timid, her eyes enlarged with awe at the beauty and impressive furnishings, including huge statues, Persian rugs, original art and wall paintings.  It really was something out of the movies with very expensive and luxurious furniture, but I didn’t show any emotion as if none of it impressed me, and honestly, I may have been blown away, but none of it really impressed me.  I suppose I was shocked that I could actually get a job working there.  Whereas the other lady was gushing, I could see on Kathy’s face that she knew Grant wasn’t going to be flattered by her.

When Grant arrived, he greeted us and walked us around so we would know the layout of the place.  We went into the backyard where there was a pool and a Jacuzzi spa, surrounded by tropical plants and waterfalls ... and more life-size Roman type statues, both male and female.  He then took us upstairs in the elevator to his office.  I had never been in a house so lavish and huge, which later I learned was worth over thirty million.  In all my real estate years I had never seen a house like that, and I had seen many beautiful homes in the two to four million range.  The other lady was falling all over herself, and it was obvious he was ignoring her.  I had made one comment to him when I said he had a beautiful home.  When we entered the room, Kathy was sitting at her desk and there were two other desks with computers.  He pointed to one asking me to sit down, and pointed to the other asking the other lady to have a seat.  He then gave us instructions to type a letter he had handwritten, asking Kathy to give it to us.  The writing was almost unreadable and I secretly gasped.

The computers were turned off and when he said to proceed, I turned it on and found the Microsoft Word program and began to type.  I heard the other lady at the other desk saying she couldn’t get the computer to load, and he snapped at her to fix it, which she said she didn’t know how to do.  Kathy stood up and said that computer had been having issues.  He snapped at her again, asking why she can’t fix it and she said she was trying the best she could.  His intimidation was written all over her red face.  I felt sorry for her, and since I had a lot of computer experience, I kindly offered to help, in which he snapped at me to continue with my task.  I finished typing the letter and printed it out.  He was impressed, but disappointed in the other lady as she sat there struggling to figure out how to boot up the computer.  When he became impatient with her, he then said he wanted to take us to lunch and chat a little more, so he had his limo driver take up to a very expensive restaurant where the other lady, browsing the menu, mentioned how expensive the food was.  He seemed offended by her comment and made a rude remark that perhaps she’d be more satisfied at McDonalds.  The look on her face was total humiliation.

As we sat there eating, he asked me lots of questions and we had a very nice visit before returning to his home.  He hardly spoke to other lady.  When we got back to his home he asked me to step aside and asked if I wanted the job, which I said yes.  He then told me as my first assignment was to tell the other lady she didn’t get it, and he walked away, leaving me alone with her.  Before I said anything to her, she asked if I could give her a ride back to her house since her husband dropped her off and she didn’t want wait for him to come because she wanted to leave immediately.  She seemed almost desperate to get out of there.  On the way back to Kihei I didn’t feel as bad I did after I saw her reaction to the ordeal she had been through.  When I told her what he said, she expressed how relieved she was.  She said he intimated her so much she admitted she had to hold back tears. 

When I told my husband I got the job, he didn’t seem too thrilled about it.  When I started work the next day, I put on my nicest clothes, which weren’t that nice, but I did wear shoes and not flip flops.  I also wore a little makeup, but pulled my hair into a ponytail.  That morning when I arrived Kathy was waiting at the door and escorted me upstairs to the office.  We didn’t take the elevator.  The staircase was massive with an elegant railing and polished hardwood flooring.  I sat down at the desk I had sat before and when Grant entered the room he welcomed me, and then he ask if I knew how to fix the other computer.  I told him I would take a look at it.  I managed to find the problem, repairing the corrupted files.  He was very pleased and told me I would be sitting at that desk from now on.  He then handed over a few sheets of paper with his scribbles written on them and asked me to type them up, then left.  Kathy helped me to read the words I was struggling with, telling me she had worked for him for nearly ten years, saying it took her awhile to make out his writing too.  She was very nice and helpful.  Around lunch time she took me downstairs to the kitchen.  I had never seen a kitchen so big, and actually there were two kitchens.  On the counter was many dishes with various food, and it appeared catered, which every day Kathy ordered the meals that were brought in.

At the end of my first day Grant met with me in the office before leaving.  He asked how the day went and I said fine.  He said he understood that all my things hadn’t arrived from the mainland and stressed how important it was that I look appropriate for the job, telling me that he often has high profile guests.  When he was done talking he handed me five one-hundred-dollar bills and told me to go shopping and get a few nice dresses.  I thanked him for his generosity, letting him know my appreciation for his understanding.

PART THREE

After months of feeling stranded on an Island that I had such hopes and dreams, I believed that finally our time had come.  I saw a future that I was sure would encourage my husband to be motivated and inspire a better future.  I knew his dream wasn’t to return to Maui, but I thought things would be different for him with me in his life.  Finding a job like I had was a sign that there was hope.  I had to keep a positive mind to keep a balanced soul.  I was still adjusting to a totally different lifestyle than I had ever known.

When I left work that first day, it was a Friday which gave me the weekend to go shopping.  My husband had gone fishing that weekend.  I headed over to Ross where I was able to buy a few dresses and a nice pair of shoes.  When I showed up on Monday, Grant made comment on how nice I looked.  He seemed pleased each day with the outfits I purchased, and occasionally he continued to hand me money, saying things like, “Take your husband out for a nice dinner,” or “Get yourself something nice.”  He really seemed to take interest in me for some reason, but never in an improper manner.  Kathy often left earlier than me, and sometimes he would come into the office at the end of the day to chat.  He would tell me stories of his travels around the world, the businesses he has owned, and would express that he saw a lot of potential in me.  He told me when he sees someone like me who is smart, beautiful, intelligent and confident, he likes to help them.  He said he had made millionaires of many people, and he saw that kind of level for me.  He mentioned names of famous people he knew, saying he had even met the Pope.  I tried not to wow over what he was saying, being mature about it, which I knew he respected in a persons demeanor.  I think that’s what he admired most.

When I told my husband these things, he seemed to get jealous, perhaps even felt threatened, though he didn’t say, but his attitude was obvious.  I told Grant that my husband was looking for work and so he wanted to help me by hiring him to do work on one of his rental properties.  I also thought that if my husband got to know Grant, he wouldn’t feel threatened.  I was happy that Grant wanted to help us, and could see hope that my husband had a good paying job, thinking it could lead into full-time work.  Grant owned several homes on Island and had taken me in the limo around Maui to show them off.  The one he needed work on had just became vacant.  Basically, it needed cleaned, shampooed, painted inside walls and some landscape upkeep.  Among the tasks Grant wanted done was to paint the driveway.

My husband came to meet him at his house and saw for the first time where I worked ... expressing later how appalled he was over the nude statues, calling them pornography.  I insisted they were works of art, very expensive works of art, but he drew a very negative attitude after that.  It was the one and only time he ever came again.  Grant had one of his workers take him to the rental house and show him what all needed to be done, and the next day my husband started work.  Every day Grant would go by and see what he had done, and after a couple of weeks he was upset that he was taking so long to get the jobs finished.  One day, after work, Grant came into the office and sat down.  Kathy had already left for the day.  He looked into my eyes very seriously and expressed most directly that my husband was a loser.  He ranted how it had been two days that my husband was painting the driveway, telling me he’s using a paint brush.  He couldn’t believe my husband was using a paint brush.  He fired him and had his guy go over and roll it out in a couple in hours. 

He told me I could so much better.  He said he couldn’t understand how I could be with someone like that, and all I could do is listen.  I was stunned, and the sad truth was, he was right, but I wasn’t going to leave my husband ... I believed in the vows of marriage, my faith and my hope ... even after my fourth marriage.  Grant assured me that my place there was not at risk, and felt bad for going off like that.  We never talked about it again.  My husband seemed glad that Grant fired him, and I almost felt like he did it on purpose.  He continued to show resentment toward my job, and there were times I really didn’t want to go home ... didn’t want to be around his negative attitude.  I would tell him to get a job, then I will quit.  That would shut him up.

One day Grant took me to the house where my husband had been working and showed me around.  It was a big two-story house with a lovely landscaped backyard and swimming pool.  When he was finished showing me the place, he said we could live there, rent free, if I wanted, no strings attached ... and no hard feelings with my husband.  He just wanted to help me live a better life, knowing we were living in a friends condo, and time was running out there.  Steve told us he decided to sell it when the place was finished, and it was pretty much finished.  I was paying the maintenance fee by then, which was a lot less than if we lived anywhere else, but when I saw the house, I was thankful and excited.  When I told my husband what he had offered, my husband refused to live there.  It really upset him that I would consider it.  As hard as it was, I had to turn Grant down, and he thought it was very foolish.

The longer I worked there, the more generous Grant was.  One day he took me into his bedroom vault and showed me some very interesting collectables.  While in there he gave me a roll of Maui dollars - something considered as souvenirs.  He was proud of his collectable casino chips from a casino he once owned back in the day, handing me several, saying they weren’t worth anything anymore.   He also gave me a rare silver dollar.  One thing I enjoyed was when he would take me for casual limo rides around the Island where we sat and discussed ideas he had for business ventures, wanting my thoughts and advice.  He was always a gentleman to me, and that is what I tried to get my husband to see, which never happened.

One day before leaving the office he told me he was having a very important gathering the following day from some important men flying in, and he asked me to wear something especially nice.  By then, our things had finally arrived and I was able to wear some of my jewelry and nicer attire.  Of course, most of our stuff stayed in the pallet in a warehouse on the dock in Kahului, as the condo was fully furnished with everything.  We managed to go through things and dig out what we wanted, but most everything sat stored untouched for nearly a year, while I paid monthly rent on it.

The next day when I showed up for work the house was full of workers, cleaning and preparing for the guests.  The limo driver arrived with about 6 women, dressed to the hilt, and were seated at the long dining table, waiting for the arrival of Grant.  I was getting a cup a coffee before heading up to the office when I saw him arranging the ladies around the table, leaving seats between them for the male guests.  I stayed upstairs most of the time while he entertained them.  After a while the ladies left and the men got down to business.  I thought it strange that he had the ladies come and sit at the table, and I assumed they were paid for their service.  I was right about my assumption when one day he told me had an escort company, and had flown the ladies in from Las Vegas on his private jet.  After everyone had left, Kathy said let’s eat, and we went downstairs to the kitchen where there was so much food.  Some food I had never tasted before.  It was a delicious buffet.  It was all cleaned up by the time Kathy and I left.

On another day, Kathy told me that Grant had a lady friend flying in from Las Vegas and he wanted everything to be perfect.  His master bedroom was also upstairs with a giant bathroom that had a huge spa tub.  He had turned the water on to fill the tub to take a bath and forgot about it.  He was outside out back while Kathy and I were in the office working when we heard the limo driver, Jake, screaming downstairs.  We both jumped up and ran down the stairs as fast as we could, not understanding what he was yelling until we saw the water pouring from the ceiling.  Kathy knew immediately it was the spa tub and dashed back upstairs to turn the water off.   I stood there in near shock looking around the area where water poured through, sick to see all the damage going on and being totally helpless.  Water was running down the walls, soaking everything to the floor and into the Persian rugs.  In the kitchen the water was flowing off the marble counters and into the stovetop grills and flooding the floor.  Grant came running in from outside and yelled to call someone.  I ran upstairs and called someone to immediately come.

It was almost time for me to leave and so Grant told me to go ahead and the crew will clean it up.  Before I left, a van pulled up and about 5 women and a few men.  They quickly unloaded all their equipment and rushed into the house.  None could speak any English, which I learned the next day when I returned.  Some of the women had come back earlier in the morning to finish cleaning   When I arrived, I saw Grant with Kathy in his bedroom seated at a table having a meeting, as they often did.  I went back downstairs to get a cup of coffee when I noticed the laundry room had baskets filled of dry towels, so I thought I would be helpful and start folding them until their meeting was finished.  The laundry room had about five or six built-in washers and driers, with a very long folding table and lots of cupboards.

After a few minutes I heard Grant on the intercom telling me to come upstairs.  As I approached the staircase, he was coming down and we met face to face.  He asked me what I was doing in the laundry room, and I told him I was folding towels, though I think he must have already known that through his security camera.  He asked me, very directly, “Are you the maid?”  I said no.  He asked me if I wanted to be a maid or a personal assistant.  I told him a personal assistant.  Then he said, “A personal assistance doesn’t do maid work.”  I told him I was just trying to help, and he told me that’s not my job.  I didn’t say a word, I just went upstairs to my desk and began working.  Kathy didn’t say anything either.  She was very loyal to him and would never say a bad word.  She once told me he isn’t on Maui all year, and comes about six months off and on ... and expressed that she works all year long regardless.  Her and her husband lived in one of his houses, which I knew when Grant was showing me around.  She was well paid too, by the expensive taste she had in clothes, shoes, and jewelry, as well as her nice car.

I had not seen that side of him before, and I really didn’t like him treating me like that, especially when I saw him being very rude to the maids that were there because they didn’t speak English.  He would yell at them for not making his bed right, and ordering them to do things they didn’t understand, until he got upset and told them all to leave.  He told Kathy that she needed to get workers over there that can speak English, and since I was the one who called for help, I felt responsible.  I stayed in the office to avoid him until I left for the day.

The weekend came and I was feeling unsatisfied working for a man who had no respect for people below him.  I also was starting to dislike him for the negative things he continued to say about my husband, trying to lure me into his web.  He talked about becoming involved in his escort business, saying he wanted to start it up in Maui and needed someone to run the show.  The more he tried to convince me that I deserved a better life than my husband could ever provide, and how he would take me all over the world and introduce me to very powerful people, the more I became frightened of him.  Maybe my husband was right, he wasn’t a good man, and I began to look at him differently.

A couple of weeks later I thought if over very seriously and decided I couldn’t continue working for him, but much of my decision had to do my husbands attitude.  I called Grant and told him I had to quit.  It was a brief conversation and he didn’t say anything.  I never saw or heard from again.  For a while, I stayed at home, going crazy over all the traffic noise below.  I had endured it for as long as I could and one day I had to go into the bathroom and shut door, just for a moment of peace and quiet.  One morning I was in the bedroom when I heard yelling outside the window.  I looked through the blinds to see a man standing on the balcony railing, and a woman screaming at him, which I couldn’t understand what she was yelling, but I knew instantly the man was about to jump.  I ran into the living room and told my husband.  He quickly ran out the door to see what was going on and suddenly the man leap over the balcony to the ground, five stories down.  I ran outside and looked over the railing to see the man laying on the cement walkway, only a foot away from the manicured lawn.  My husband had ran down the stairs and rushed to the man to see if he was alive, and he was still breathing but unconscious.  Someone had called the ambulance and the man was taken away.  We later learned he was brain dead and had died.  It was such a horrible sight to see and I wondered if he would have made it if he had hit the softer ground.

After that, and my husband still not working, I went back online to look for another job.  I just couldn’t sit around there all day doing nothing.  I emailed my resume to an ad that only said they were looking for a part-time office assistant.  I received a call almost immediately for an interview.  When the woman, who introduced herself as Rosie, told me she was the owner of Maui Real Estate, I was hesitate to continue with the conversation.  When I had left Oregon, I left real estate.  I let my license expire after ten years and said that’s it.  However, I did go to the interview and I did get hired after meeting with Rosie, which only took less than a half hour.  We had very interesting visit after learning we had a lot in common.  She said she had almost given up on finding someone qualified and was thrilled with all my knowledgeable experience, and my computer skills were a huge plus.  In all the years of their business, they never had a company logo, which I created for them.

I worked Monday through Friday for four hours a day, mostly assisting the Office Manager.  I became, what she once expressed, was one her most irreplaceable employees.  She had attended a nationwide Real Estate Brokers conference in Las Vegas and was asked to be one of the speakers.  To my surprise she told hundreds of Broker’s across the nation that because of me, I took them to the next level, which had increased their success.  She told me after making that statement that several Brokers wanted to know if I would be interested in taking on more work.  When Rose told me this, I was deeply touched, but I assured her that I didn’t want to work for anyone else, or take time away from my responsibility with her.  She was very thankful.

My husband finally got a job doing maintenance work for a nearby condo complex but he wasn’t happy working there.  He was having to spend a lot of time at work, and over time his attitude grew more depressing.  My time on Island was wearing on me too.  The traffic noise never ceased day and night, driving me insane, and I was missing the seasons.  I realized that going to Maui for a vacation was one thing, living there was another.  Perhaps if we didn’t live on the main coastal route from Wailia to Kahului, it might have been different.  But after a year, I was ready to flee.  We began looking online for a home, somewhere, and we had no particular place in mind.  I wanted to return to Oregon, but my husband wanted somewhere neither of us had ever been.  We found that place in the Ozarks of Arkansas.  I bought the house after reviewing a whole house inspection report, since we were purchasing the property sight unseen.  When I knew for sure the deal went through, I went to Rosie to tell her I was leaving Maui.  She was so unhappy about that, but I made a proposal where I could take my job with me and she was thrilled to give it a try - and I worked hard to proof to her I could live anywhere and do what I do.  After six years in Arkansas, I moved back to Oregon, while I continued to work for the company.  I had been with the company for twelve years until our time came to a close.  I was doing all the graphic work for the three offices, over a hundred agents, making flyers, brochures, and building websites.  They had two offices on Maui and one in Hilo when I had first begun, but by the time they let me go, they were down to one office and less than 50 agents.  I understood that they were in financial difficult times and although I was sad to lose my job and security, which uprooted my life in a terrible way, it all turned out good in the end.

Over the years I have wondered what my life might have been if I left my husband then and accepted Grant’s offer, especially since my marriage ended two years later, proving he was right all along … my husband was a loser.  He never wanted to work and even after we left Maui, and I purchased a home in Arkansas with my own funds, he was perfectly content with me paying for everything.  I wasn’t.  The marriage ended and he went back to Maui, leaving everything behind … including his race car, which I practically gave away to get rid of it.  It never was a fancy car, and after sitting years in the garage, the tires were flat, the battery was dead, and it had to be hauled away.  I felt rather good about it, really, because the man I sold it to was dying of cancer and his dream had always been to own a race car.  His wife had contacted me, and after learning their sad story, I sold it to him for a couple of hundred dollars, as they were poor.  To see the look on the man’s face when his wife told him, was priceless.

After two years in Arkansas all my husband wanted to do was work in the yard.  Any mention of getting a job and his bad attitude would rise up.  Distance between us was getting worse until I finally told him I wanted a divorce.  At that point he then agreed to go get a job, but honestly, the marriage was dead and there was no point.  When I drove him to the airport and dropped him off, I felt such a relief.  In the divorce I kept the house and everything, as he walked away from it all.  I stayed another four years alone before finally coming back home to Oregon in 2009, and I have remained here ever since.  Things turned out pretty good for me in the long run, but it was a long hard haul to get here. But now, I am still single and happy, probably the happiest I have ever been.

I feel blessed because I am truly blessed!’