A hui hou

Last night I said goodbye to my borrowed parents. They're moving to Hawaii for good next week.

I borrowed them (from their kids, who live out of town) when I moved here about six years ago. I already had an adopted mom (who really belonged to my best friend from high school) and surrogate parents (when I lived in Virginia). I also have two perfectly good birth parents and a recently-added stepfather. But it's nice to be able to borrow a pair of parents when you're in a new town. Especially when they're as wonderful as mine have been.

As we were leaving the restaurant, they taught me the Hawaiian phrase "a hui hou," which means "until we meet again." Which I hope will be soon. The island life is a lot more tempting now that I know I can bring the $800 alleycat without having to quarantine him. And I wouldn't even need to find a new pair of parents to borrow.

So, to my borrowed parents, who have meant more to me than I could ever tell them and have loved me as unconditionally as those who brought me into this world, "a hui hou." And mahalo.