Together — The Gift of Your Time.

Mum’s ashes had been in my brother’s linen press for several years, patiently waiting for a time when we siblings could all be together to scatter them.

To complicate things, we lived in different parts of Australia and wanted to return Mum’s ashes to Maui, Hawaii. After struggling to coordinate our schedules for months, I recognised it might be years before we could make it happen, so I booked to go alone.

Not all dreams come true, eh? 

A few weeks later, my sister called to say that if I could bring the trip forward by a week, we could go together after all!

Together, we revisited the places we’d lived all those decades ago: Haleakala crater, where our astrophysicist father had worked; the Road to Hana we’d traversed as children; and the waters between Maui and Molokai, where the fish, rays, corals and even giant turtles all now share their underwater world with Mum… and our memories.

Having this time together was the greatest gift and one we both treasure.

Image: Coral Garden by Lisa Stewart