Raising A Soul Surfer (17 page)

There was no electricity, no stores or gas stations to go to, no work except to try to patch together what shelter and subsistence could be scrounged up for yourself or your neighbor. The economy was wrecked. Tourists fled, hotels were shuttered, first flights out of the island were packed with people escaping back to the mainland, forever telling of their nightmare vacation on Kauai. The storm had destroyed our church building and scattered our church family into other churches around the island.

In addition, Tom had parked our van in the parking lot of the nearby elementary school, logically thinking that it would be safe from falling trees or buildings. We’d only bought the van—our first new car—in 1988. We were determined to keep this one in good shape. But we didn’t count on the fact that huge pieces of the school would tear off and sail into the parking lot. We don’t know what part of the building smacked into our car, but it was more than just dented here and there. It had even been spun 180 degrees by wind and whatever else hit it.

Our insurance company declared the van totaled and gave us a check for $11,500. This was all we had, along with unemployment money, to survive on for the next year. We were thankful that the van was still drivable; but with all the debris, including ample amounts of roofing nails, scattered along the road, flat tires were a constant occurrence for everyone navigating the roadways.

When we tried to make a repair reservation to get the van worked on, we were told it would be a six-month wait! We decided to ship the van to Oahu and have the bodywork and repainting done there. We chose blue, like the ocean, for the repaint. It only took two weeks. We enjoyed a few days of vacation on Oahu, then drove our blue beach cruiser to the docks and shipped it home.

With no income, we wondered how we’d be able to pay the mortgage on the lot we’d owned for 10 years. We had approved plans and soon planned to build; when we lost our jobs, the bank tried to foreclose. But with the island’s financial infrastructure wiped out as well, the government put a moratorium on all mortgages.

Of course, Bethany was too little to remember any of this, but Noah and Timmy both have lots of adventure stories about life after the hurricane. The military set up a base camp right in the Princeville Park. They flew in daily helicopters supplied with MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). Each day different items showed up at the 5:00
P.M
. drop—water bottles, ice, tarps, lights . . . always something different. It was just like a “Mash Camp.” You could stay, or go through the food line for some fresh army gourmet!

It took almost a year for life to return to normal. The Weston Hotel where we had worked had been sold to the Marriot for a rock bottom price of $50 million. The hotel then had to undergo post-hurricane refurbishment, which probably cost as much as the initial price. The Marriot was not hiring back those of us who were union, so both Tom and I had to look elsewhere for work. Tom fought them for six months, writing letters and making phone calls, trying to get his job back. They should have hired him just for his tenacity!

I called a friend from church who owned the Menu Magazine and asked for the job delivering visitor brochures and magazines across the island. This helped our family get back into a good rhythm that would carry us along for the next few years.
Money was always tight, but surf was good, and God’s hand was there for us.

As our kids matured, their distinct personalities flourished in their own healthy and vigorous ways, while developing their own walk with God.

Noah was our intense and serious child. His favorite movie was
Inspector Gadget
and his favorite TV show was
MacGyver
. I taught him to safely change his first tire when he was only seven years old. He started getting involved in church more during junior high and went to church youth camps and activities. Many of his friends started taking their first steps toward a relationship with Christ as well.

Noah embraced the paintball rage and would disappear into the nearby jungle with his friends, only to reappear dirty and sweaty in the afternoon to compare battle-wound welts. Tom and I passed on our interest in photography to our children. In sixth grade, at Kilauea School, Noah won a state honor for the picture he took of the original Hanalei Post Office, and he won a trip to Oahu.

These two factors may have kick-started Noah toward a career in photography. He developed a talent for taking photos of his friends surfing. It turns out that Noah also has a good nose for business, and we turned over to him the daunting role of managing the family interests and concerns in all things having to do with Bethany’s surfing career. He also shoots all of Bethany’s official photos.

Our second son, Timmy, is Noah’s opposite in many ways. Laid back and relaxed, yet possessing a wry and oddball sense of humor, Tim jokes that he grew up being “Noah’s brother” until
Bethany’s shark attack put her on the front pages. Then he went to being “Bethany’s brother.”

One of the things I got involved in early on was a public school release-time program with my long-time friend Barbara Tofte, where kids got an excused absence an hour a week for religious instruction. Because people were touchy about church and state separation, parents had to sign a waiver for kids to participate. To our amazement, lots of parents did.

I was a teacher’s aide to Barbara, and we were able to use that time to share Christ with a group of North Shore kids. It was after one of those classes (where I had to teach the class for Barbara because she was ill) that I had the wonderful opportunity to lead my own son Timmy to faith in Christ.

Barbara had called me at the last minute and said that I’d have to teach the whole class by myself, so I only had time to grab a music video by Christian recording artist Michael W. Smith that told a powerful story about Jesus dying on the cross. On the way home, Timmy, who had recently come close to drowning, asked how he could be sure that he would go to heaven.

For all of his usual playful manner, I could tell that he was very serious, and so we talked about the music video, which compared the difference between heaven and hell. Finally, I just pulled the van off the road and led him in a prayer of faith, asking for forgiveness of sin and inviting Jesus into his little heart to be his Lord and Savior. There is nothing better for a Christian mother than a life-changing event like that!

Tim carved out his own unique personality while sandwiched between two over-the-top siblings. It was Timmy who decided that he would rather bodyboard than stand-up surf, making him the odd one out among the rest of his surfing family. Timmy also got into shooting videos, almost exclusively
of his fellow bodyboarders, and then editing them into hour-long movies with no real plot, just great footage and rocking music. He worked alongside guys such as Bob Sato, manager of the Kauai Classic Bodyboard Team.

Also, Timmy is the mischief-maker; if something zany was going on, you could bank on him being right in the middle of it. After camping high in the mountains of Kauai, Tim and some friends decided they wanted to descend the steep, winding 15-mile road on a mattress—an unusual vehicle no matter which way you slice it.

The boys put skateboard wheels on a wooden frame and then tossed an old mattress on it; they called it a “bed sled.” Tim and his longtime friend Pypyr piled onto the mattress and took off down the hill, using their weight to bank the steep turns and dragging the edge of the mattress against the asphalt to brake. Meanwhile, another friend followed in a car so that no one would run them over from behind.

Of course, all the kids got into some sort of mischief—like the common trick of “pool-hopping,” where they and their friends would go from one hotel pool to another, trying to stay ahead of the security guards who were valiantly attempting to keep the pools reserved for tourists and guests only. Not to mention that the security guards knew all the kids by sight.

These were the kind of antics that were hard for us to get upset about when we heard about them, especially considering
our
past.

Later, all of our children were active with the youth group at North Shore Christian Church (nicknamed The Tent Church, because we met under a large tent), which was doing some really wonderful things, such as mission trips to orphanages. On top of being regulars at midweek Bible studies, the kids helped out as staff during youth camps for the younger kids.

Because Scripture memorization is key to promoting spiritual growth, we found that one of the best ways to memorize God’s Word is through music. God’s Word can help you and your children get through difficult times, guide and direct, correct and help keep you from harm. We learned so many Scripture songs in church and through children’s music videos and DVDs.

On a town trip with the kids, I parked the car in an empty parking lot, and when I came back, someone had parked their car blocking me in. It was an outrage, and I got upset. I thought about letting the air out of that car’s tires! As the kids waited to see what I would do about it, I remembered the words of the Scripture song we were listening to from Romans 12:21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (
NIV
). I decided to honor God and not let my sinful nature rule the day. We got into the car and I had to drive over the sidewalk in order to leave.

In addition to church and surfing, our kids were involved in many sports. Soccer and swimming were big with all of our kids. Timmy, in particular, demonstrated a natural ability in just about any sport he tackled; and both of the boys were pretty good at the quick-moving sport of roller hockey.

Having a girl to raise was different than raising two boys, but I pretty much stuck to the same format. I encouraged the kids in all their team sports, because it helped them work together, make friends and establish good, healthy relationships built around activities instead of hanging out at a mall or something else.

As with both boys, we wanted to give Bethany swimming lessons at an early age, but since we couldn’t afford them, I taught her myself. Before long, she was on the local swim team. Soon she was winning swim meets in her age division.

Being on swim team also helped our kids build their endurance in the water. By the time she was seven, Bethany could
swim a mile without getting exhausted. This would come in very handy as she started to surf larger waves farther from shore.

Of course, there was the surfing, surfing, and more surfing!

The local surf shop in Hanalei started a surf team. Charlie Cowden, the owner, hired Russell Lewis as coach and opened the team free of charge to the young kids who would commit to Coach’s training regimen.

Seven-year-old Bethany and her friend Alana signed right up. They were given a nice discount at the surf shop, loaded up with stickers and T-shirts and then put to drilling exercises in between surf sessions. On a team of all boys, they were the only girls.

The combination of swim team and surf team really pushed the girls’ endurance, confidence and skill level; before long they were winning surf contests, alternating between first and second place. Within a few years, it was apparent that Bethany had a shot at being a professional surfer. When I was young, being a pro surfer meant some clothes and maybe a small check if you managed to win a surf contest. Today the sport is fueled by corporations offering winning purses, and by sponsors offering salaries to the top-ranking surfers on their rosters.

Women’s surfing, while still not as lucrative as men’s, is far removed from the stereotypes of beach-betty eye-candy. Any girl talented enough to make it up the ladder in ratings can earn a fair living being a professional surfer. Motivated and encouraged by her equally talented friend Alana, Bethany became a hard-charging fixture around Kauai, dropping in on waves that even surfers years older considered good-sized. When she was still in grade school, we started to travel so that she could compete in the local junior contests on the other islands.

I remember the night when Tom and I sat down and talked about schooling options for our daughter. It seemed that her God-given talent was taking her in a direction that would make
typical school unworkable, particularly as her competition schedule and training took place during normal school hours. We decided to enroll her in school courses online. Alana did the same thing; so they each kept their closest surf and training partner. As friends, they strategized, using the same game plan so they could fast-track their surfing careers together.

By the time Bethany was 13, she had a solid track record in junior surfing competition. It couldn’t have come at a better time, because the boys were getting established and independent. Noah had graduated, finished his two years at Heald Business College and was entering into his photography career; Timmy was finishing up high school and looking toward the future. Now my focus could go primarily to Bethany. I became her surf mom and coach, her cheering section, cook, chauffeur and laundry maid. I even videoed her surf sessions so we could critique her later. She managed to get picked up by Rip Curl, which was an important help.