Did you hear the news?
According to a national poll people in Hawaii live longer than everyone else in the country. I knew it.
Of course we live longer, what else? We live in paradise.
There’s a reason everyone on the mainland wants to swim, fly or paddle to Hawaii, it’s nicer here, so we live longer.
Did you ever notice in the sitcoms and the dramas on TV that the family or the couple in Skinnecktity, Wisconsin is giddy out of their minds to fly to Hawaii?
We’re the pot of gold, we have the beaches, the breezes, the umbrella drinks, the luaus. We are the laid back state, where everyone sways in a hammock all day long sipping on a coconut with a straw. Everyone plays the ukulele and does the hula.
Well, not quite. We go to work and have bills and rent and problems, but we do have it good here, and what ties it all together? Aloha. That’s it. The cushion of niceness between us, the smile when we pass each other, and going out of our way to help.
We go easy. Hawaii leaves us alone.
Another reason we live longer is that there’s no time in Hawaii. Years drift by, everyday feels like Sunday. You wake up and ten years went by, where’d they go?
You turn 60 and you were just 30 a few months ago. You turn 40 and 20 feels like it was last week. That’s why. You live longer ‘cause you no count da years. No need in Hawaii.
I asked my fellow islanders around town why they felt we live longer here.
Ann in front of Walmart said, “It’s taking in the fresh air and the ocean.” Zenise, her friend, said, “We smile more here.” Others were more practical. Jacqueline said “It’s because we eat more local produce.” Joseph at Longs let me know it’s because there is less stress here.” The nice checker at Matsuyama’s said, “Even though it’s more expensive in Hawaii, it’s the best place to live.”
Musicians at a local market joked, “We live longer here because we don’t go on tour or take drugs anymore.” Their answer had to be edited.
A guy at a bar in town told me his reason, “We’re isolated from the toxins.”
A good one from Marla in Puna was that we live longer because of the “weather and the beauty.”
Lucky you live Hawaii, now you know why.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-monthly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com
